September 12, 2005 - Timing is Everything
When it rains, it pours. I always used this saying figuratively. It’s a bummer when you have to use it literally as well.
12 years is a long time. I met my dear friend, Trang, a dozen or so years ago at the University of California-Santa Cruz. We shared the same classes and formed a friendship navigating the treacherous waters of science/pre-medical courses. Earning my first degree in the all-purpose liberal arts degree of psychology, this transition to the more quantifiable sciences took some adjustment. Considering, also, that I had spent four years in college in New Jersey before hitting the west coast, day-to-day life was somewhat of an adjustment as well.
Trang and I started rock climbing together near the end of my tenure in California and when I headed back East for medical school a decade ago, we promised that we would stay friends. We indeed stayed very good friends with shared climbing trips out West being a somewhat regularly scheduled event. Still, there was the plan of an East Coast visit to climb at the fabled “Gunks”. The Gunks has become my home climbing crag. Its three hundred foot tall cliffs are home to hundreds of rock climbs, most with historic significance. Much of American rock climbing history was forged on this iron-hard conglomerate rock. This would be a significant experience for Trang…if it hadn’t poured for almost a week straight. None-the-less, Trang, Edison and I made an attempt to climb. Well, it was a nice hike anyway.
Instead of testing our mettle hanging from the side of a cliff, Trang and I spent most of this trip on safari in the urban jungle of New York City. Being more at home a hundred feet deep in the ocean or a skyscraper’s height off the ground on a ledge than in the city, I was happy to have the guiding experience of several friends. We had a lovely day exploring Downtown, starting with a Chinatown dim-sum brunch, followed by a stroll through Little Italy, the Village, and Soho. These latter two areas left me feeling very “unhip” in comparison to the surroundings, but it did keep me full. Cream puffs never tasted so good…only to be trumped by the Grey’s Papaya hot dog recession special (2 hot dogs and a papaya juice for $2.75).
There was a moment of that day that took us to the other end of the emotional spectrum. It has been several years since the World Trade Center tragedy but wounds are still deep for many people. Much healing has occurred for many but it sometimes only takes a reminder to pull off the scab. Trang was thousands of miles away on that horrible morning; But, no doubt like most people, she couldn’t escape the sharp point of reality. This was her first visit to New York City and time spent at Ground Zero was a necessity…the inconceivable loss of September 11th being inseparable from this city.
At the World Trade Center site, the image of a small child seeking shelter from the rain under her colorful umbrella caught my eye. She stood out so strongly against the grey backdrop of a rainy sky. The color of the small umbrella was taking on the overwhelming darkness of the storm, just as the innocence of this child was attempting to smooth out, just a little, the coarse cynicism born of this tragic event.
On Trang’s last night in New Jersey, we ventured back across the river to Manhattan. This time, we took on midtown, armed with the heavy American steel of my truck. Unfortunately, that was the wrong weapon to choose. We sat in traffic attempting to navigate the bottleneck that the Lincoln Tunnel had created. Trang and I did make it in with a few minutes to spare.
It made me very happy to share a performance of Phantom of the Opera with Trang. Many productions of different shows have spread across the Globe and Las Vegas (Trang’s current home) has no shortage of them. Though I find myself very rarely there, I still believe that Broadway has a unique character and flavor that is lost in the replicating process. Trang had expressed an interest in seeing this show many years ago and I hope that the experience lived up to the anticipation.
I was very sad to see Trang return home today. It was a short visit…too short for such a long friendship. I am glad that friends on this coast that have become very important parts of my life had a chance to meet one of the people who made me so grateful for having had the opportunity to spend some time of the “left” coast. I hope that these friendships will overlap. On a selfish level, that’s a win-win situation for me.
12 years is a long time. I met my dear friend, Trang, a dozen or so years ago at the University of California-Santa Cruz. We shared the same classes and formed a friendship navigating the treacherous waters of science/pre-medical courses. Earning my first degree in the all-purpose liberal arts degree of psychology, this transition to the more quantifiable sciences took some adjustment. Considering, also, that I had spent four years in college in New Jersey before hitting the west coast, day-to-day life was somewhat of an adjustment as well.
Trang and I started rock climbing together near the end of my tenure in California and when I headed back East for medical school a decade ago, we promised that we would stay friends. We indeed stayed very good friends with shared climbing trips out West being a somewhat regularly scheduled event. Still, there was the plan of an East Coast visit to climb at the fabled “Gunks”. The Gunks has become my home climbing crag. Its three hundred foot tall cliffs are home to hundreds of rock climbs, most with historic significance. Much of American rock climbing history was forged on this iron-hard conglomerate rock. This would be a significant experience for Trang…if it hadn’t poured for almost a week straight. None-the-less, Trang, Edison and I made an attempt to climb. Well, it was a nice hike anyway.
Instead of testing our mettle hanging from the side of a cliff, Trang and I spent most of this trip on safari in the urban jungle of New York City. Being more at home a hundred feet deep in the ocean or a skyscraper’s height off the ground on a ledge than in the city, I was happy to have the guiding experience of several friends. We had a lovely day exploring Downtown, starting with a Chinatown dim-sum brunch, followed by a stroll through Little Italy, the Village, and Soho. These latter two areas left me feeling very “unhip” in comparison to the surroundings, but it did keep me full. Cream puffs never tasted so good…only to be trumped by the Grey’s Papaya hot dog recession special (2 hot dogs and a papaya juice for $2.75).
There was a moment of that day that took us to the other end of the emotional spectrum. It has been several years since the World Trade Center tragedy but wounds are still deep for many people. Much healing has occurred for many but it sometimes only takes a reminder to pull off the scab. Trang was thousands of miles away on that horrible morning; But, no doubt like most people, she couldn’t escape the sharp point of reality. This was her first visit to New York City and time spent at Ground Zero was a necessity…the inconceivable loss of September 11th being inseparable from this city.
At the World Trade Center site, the image of a small child seeking shelter from the rain under her colorful umbrella caught my eye. She stood out so strongly against the grey backdrop of a rainy sky. The color of the small umbrella was taking on the overwhelming darkness of the storm, just as the innocence of this child was attempting to smooth out, just a little, the coarse cynicism born of this tragic event.
On Trang’s last night in New Jersey, we ventured back across the river to Manhattan. This time, we took on midtown, armed with the heavy American steel of my truck. Unfortunately, that was the wrong weapon to choose. We sat in traffic attempting to navigate the bottleneck that the Lincoln Tunnel had created. Trang and I did make it in with a few minutes to spare.
It made me very happy to share a performance of Phantom of the Opera with Trang. Many productions of different shows have spread across the Globe and Las Vegas (Trang’s current home) has no shortage of them. Though I find myself very rarely there, I still believe that Broadway has a unique character and flavor that is lost in the replicating process. Trang had expressed an interest in seeing this show many years ago and I hope that the experience lived up to the anticipation.
I was very sad to see Trang return home today. It was a short visit…too short for such a long friendship. I am glad that friends on this coast that have become very important parts of my life had a chance to meet one of the people who made me so grateful for having had the opportunity to spend some time of the “left” coast. I hope that these friendships will overlap. On a selfish level, that’s a win-win situation for me.
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