Building damaged by Hurricane Sandy (pic from Clara Barragan’s mobile phone).
Hurricane Sandy came ashore with her powerful gale winds and pounding rain upon New York City and a large area of the United States from Florida to Massachusetts . We are accustomed to seeing such occurrences in Florida, not in New York. In fact, most of the Northeast USA is experiencing what we in the South face annually. I am riveted to my television watching the storm take its hit and causing great damage. Reading that the subways are flooded in New York or seeing the Atlantic City Boardwalk under water is stunning.
New York holds a special place in my life, I spent most of my years there. I know I’m not alone in this respect. New York has played hosts to many visitors and former residences. I know most of us are praying for the best for friends and families in New York and all the areas that this storm is affecting. Please take this time to stay safe and when this storm passes, as it will, pull together as great citizens of this wonderful country and help each other. Share your food, water, shelter, and other goods with each other. Help each other to clear debris. We will do our part to send necessary goods to you all. Some will even travel to lend a hand.
On Friday when I picked up my dress for the North Broward Links Gala Contest: Dancing with The Stars; I noticed that the tailor had butchered the bottom. He was supposed to take off 1-2 inches, instead he took of about four inches and hem was very uneven. That was the second dress he had ruined! I panicked and call my dance partner, Miguel. He told me to call our friend Dennis who knows how to work magic with the sewing machine. I left the boutique quite upset and disappointed.
I went over to Miguel’s house and Dennis had his sewing machine out. He measured cut and sewed most of the night. While he was sewing, Miguel and I practiced our dance routine. When Dennis was done, the dress looked a hundred times better. Then they had the brilliant idea to add feather boas at the bottom to hide some of the slight imperfection that remained. I woke up early Saturday morning and drove to the nearest Party City store. I bought four white feature boas and took them to Dennis. He sewed them onto the dress. The dress was transformed into a true Ginger Rogers style of dress.
I rushed home and got ready for the Gala Miguel, Dennis and our friend Jackie picked me up. When we got to the venue, we met the five other couples that were also competing. Needless to say, we were all very nervous. Miguel and I were happy to find out we were selected for the fourth spot; no ones likes being first in these types of competitions. Dennis came to the dressing room and helped me with my makeup. I have never worn false eyelashes, but again Dennis worked his magic and made me look more like the Swan Princess, ready for the ball. When our turn came, Miguel escorted me onto the dance floor, my heart was practically in my throat. He gave me a twirl as they introduced us and the audience applauded.
The music began. Although I was still nervous, my fear went away with the familiar voice of Frank Sinatra piped throughout the hall, singing “The Way You Look Tonight.” We danced and spun, hopped, quick-stepped, waltz, twirled and had a great time enjoying the dance and the audience’s responses to our moves. The audience, wooed and clapped whenever they liked a particular step. Next thing I knew it was over just as quickly as it began.
We sat and our assigned table and the judges made their remarks : loved the dance, loved Frank Sinatra, loved moves and wanted to steal my dress! Hahaha. They raised their scores: one 10 and four 9’s. “Wow! No Way,” was my thought when I saw them. We waited while the last two couples danced. The last couple had a professional dancer as part of the team. I must say he was fantastic. He even lifted her a few times. There was no way, Miguel and I were going to do such moves.
Finally, they contest ended and they had us back on the dance floor for the announcement of the winners. To my shock and our great surprised, we placed the second and received two beautiful awards! The professional guy with the lifts came in first place. I must say, Miguel, Dennis and Jackie truly turned this techie, geeky, uncoordinated woman into a Swan Princess last night. Best part is that there were well over 400 people in attendance and lots of money was raised for the scholarship fund for the kids. I also have three new awesome friends: Miguel, Dennis and Jackie! Happy, happy, joy, joy!
When I agreed to help out with the North Broward Links charity event to raise money for disadvantage kids scholarship fund; I had no idea what I was getting into. The Gala’s theme is Denim and Diamonds; attendees are instructed to wear denim and a sparkle tops or sports jacket for men. That is fine, but my participation in the fundraiser is to be a contestant in the organization’s version of Dancing with the Stars.
I told my girlfriend who recruited me, that I am accident prone and generally quite uncoordinated. I tried all the excuses that I could think of, inorder to not be in the contest. She convinced me that it was for a great cause and she would find a partner that is an awesome dance. This person would make me look good on the dance floor.
Enter Miguel, the brave soul ,who agreed to be my partner and to train me. It started out a little rough, he would say go left and I would go right. At some point, he had to remind me that he was leading…there goes the control freak in me again. He has been stepped on, kicked and hit in the nose, all by yours truly. Come on, I’m into techie stuff (great technical terminology), what do I know about dancing? There were times that I thought Miguel must of thought: “ What the heck did I get myself into? This woman has too left feet!” Nevertheless, he was very patient with me and he encouraged me whenever I messed up.
After a number of days and hours of practicing, we will compete tonight in front of 400 people. I have the accessories, my gown, the music, my dancing shoes and I hope to remember to bring along my self-confidence. There are butterflies flying around my stomach, but I hope to shoo them away once the music starts. A few hours from now I will see if this clumsy Cygnet becomes a graceful Swan. To be continued…
I came across one of my poems I wrote when I was a wee lass! Reading it now makes me laugh to think that at that age I thought I was at the stage we call “middle-age!” When we are young, the thirties and forties seem so far away and so old. Now forty is the new thirty. I am so glad my perspective has changed regarding age and what it truly means to live life. Here is my immature mind at work below:
When I saw my first love, I was not in love with her. She looked old and tired. She had faded paint; her engine needed some work and her tires were not in great shape. You see, I was in my sophomore year in college and needed a vehicle to get from my classes and to my jobs. My dear mother decided to “sell” me her first car, Betsy. Betsy was a 1973 Ford Torino and she looked old. I protested that I didn’t want an old broken down car. Mother reminded me that I had very little credit and no money.
She said she was being kind by only charging me $500 and I can “pay” her in installments. This pretty much meant that she was giving it to me. I reluctantly submitted to her suggestion and I grudgingly accepted Betsy. That’s when my brothers went to work. They stripped Betsy’s paint off and gave her a new paint job: lime green with pin stripes (flames at that). They pulled her engine apart and gave her new parts; they made the engine more powerful. They gave her mag wheels in the back. They had to take out the front seat and put steel plates down to build the seat high enough for me to see over the steering wheel. Yes. I’m that vertically challenge and this was before automatic seats!
When my brothers were done with Betsy, she looked so new. I couldn’t help but do my happy dance and gave them hugs. Throughout the process, they gave me lessons on how cars worked. I had to learn about the carburetor, the camp shaft, pushrods, air filter, oil filer, transmission, gas line, pc valve, solenoid starter, water pump, and most of the parts on a car. They taught me how to change a tire and change the oil. They wanted me to know how to care for Betsy before they sent me out on the road, on a drive more than two and half hours away. To this day, I am grateful to them that I know how to change a flat tire whenever I am forced to do so.
Betsy was a powerhouse. When I turned the keys to start her up, her V8 engine roared to life. Because of her weight, she sat so well on the road and the ride was so smooth. The only challenge was in the snow. Betsy was a rear-wheel drive, thus prone to spinouts on wet and snowy surfaces. Other than that, we work great together. My friends called her the Green Hornet because of her color. Sometimes I could fit 10 of us inside Betsy and go college hopping. She was our limo when we went from town to town visiting different campuses.
I got my first speeding ticket in Betsy. I was late for class and I had an exam that day. I was flying down the high way when I saw the flashing light. At first, I wasn’t sure that it was me the cop was after until he got on his speaker and told me to pull over. When he came up to ask me for my license and registration, he was amazed that I was driving the car. He said, “What is a little lady like you doing driving such a big car? I clocked you doing 75 miles in a 55 zone.” I guess it didn’t help that I said: “ You see how I handled her!” I got the ticket. L I should have been happy, I know I was doing pretty near 100 at some point!
I used to love drag racing in Betsy. Yeah, you read it right. What else was there to do in Albany, NY! The place was dead except for the colleges. Besides, there was an area in the mostly suburban (if you want to call it that…more liker rural) part of the town. After 8 p.m. there was hardly any traffic. That’s were we would race. I chalk it up to being young, dumb and bored…not a great combination for longevity.
One night our friend Timmy came to visit. He had graduated the year before and gotten a swanky job at Wang, a technology company that paid him a lot of money. He bought a DeLorean. I challenge him to a race. Poor Betsy, by the time she got to 90, Timmy’s DeLorean was all the way up the highway. She did give it her best though.
When I graduated from college, Betsy was having some trouble. She kept breaking down and costing me so much money to fix her. I guess all the racing and highway driving finally got to her. It almost broke my heart when I sold her to one of my coworkers. It was like losing a friend. No matter how many cars I have had since Betsy, she will always be my first love!
