Lady Liberty

A Few years ago I sat on my Granny’s couch talking to her about travel. This was not long after I had gotten my current job and I was dreaming of all the places that I would like to see. 

I sat up straight and firmly stated “I think that the first place that I would like to go is New York. It seems like such a cool city and I would love to see it.”

“You Know,” Granny said as she turned toward me. “I have never been to New York and I always wanted to go there.” 

“Really?”

“Yes, I always wanted to see the Statue of Liberty. In so many books I have read they talk about how when immigrants came to America the first thing they saw was the Statue of Liberty and I would like to see that in person…since I have been imagining it all these years. See if it is really like what is in my head.” 

“Do you want to come with me?”

“Oh no, you should go with someone else. I would just slow you down.

“Don’t be silly Granny, it would be fun!”

Well…If you are sure.”

“Of course I’m sure!”

And that is how I ended up on a seniors tour of New York City. It was one the best trips I have ever taken.

I think that people laugh at the idea of taking a seniors tour but it was so good! They really made sure that you saw everything you could possibly see without playing you out. The food that was included was top notch and I didn’t have to move my suitcase from the bus to the hotel room or vice versa once. The people on the trip were very laid back and only concerned with having fun and they were so nice. It really was fantastic.

One of the absolute best moments happened on the first day that we arrived in New York. The bus dropped us off in a park in New Jersey and then we got on a ferry that took us to Ellis Island and The Statue of Liberty. This was it, this was the one thing that Granny wanted to see above all else. As the boat cut through the water and we started to approach the Statue of Liberty my breath was taken away. You see it in movies and on TV shows but that does nothing to prepare you for just how big the statue really is. I couldn’t believe my eyes and then I looked over at Granny…her face expressed how I was feeling. The sense of awe. This, Lady Liberty, was the first thing that so many immigrants saw when they first came to New York. The hopes, dreams and, I can only imagine, relief that they must have had on those boats…it must have felt so amazing. 

We did get off the ferry at Liberty Island and we walked around staring up at the statue. In my journal I wrote: “She was so big and beautiful. In my mind I thought that she would be smaller, she wasn’t, she was amazing. She is made of copper and is about the width of two pennies. I can’t believe that I saw it! Liberty was so cool.”

When I close my eyes I can still picture myself on the boat next to Granny. It was such a special moment for both of us. We got to enter New York for the first time is such a cool way, by sailing past the Statue of Liberty. This is a memory that Granny and I still talk about almost every time we are together and for sure when one of reads a story about immigrants coming to New York. 

There was a feeling…I can’t really describe it. There was excitement and anticipation. It was a moment of sharing something that was really important with someone that you really love. Of sharing a moment with someone where you both are so filled with emotion and there is no one else in the world that you would rather share that with then the person you are with.

This isn’t very eloquent but it is difficult to describe the feeling I had that day. Seeing the Statue of Liberty with Granny will be a moment that I will never forget as long as live. It was one the best day I have ever had.

There was so much more that happened on that trip, it was one of the best trips ever, and sometime, maybe, I will share more stories from New York with Granny but for now I wanted to share this memory because it is always the first thing that I think of when I think of New York.