For the past few weeks I tried in vain to find out what Nacho wanted to do to mark his 40th birthday. I offered suggestions for adults-only evening outings with our neighborhood pals, and tried to think of birthday venues that might also include family-friendly afternoon options. Yet every time I asked, I got a tepid response and assurances that he just wanted to hang out with us. The fact that his birthday fell on the one off day he had between two 4-day trips made it quite possible he would be exhausted and not up for much. So I was willing to scale back and take my lead from him. What usually happens is that I plan his birthday according to my tastes so I was trying hard to refrain from that. In the end, I opted to let him wake up and decide what sounded best. And given that we hadn't alerted anyone to our plans, it would most definitely be a family-only kind of outing. And all that was just fine with him. So we woke up on a lazy Sunday morning and gathered the girls up for a run into the tip of the island of Manhattan towards the new Seaglass Carousel in Battery Park. It opened in September and I'd been saying for months that it was on my list of things to do. So why not start your 40th off like a kid at heart with a very cool ride on a flying fish?
After that we let the misty gray day dictate things and since it was nice and mild, a walk around the water's edge was the perfect way to go. Battery Park City is a strange little enclave of residential high rises just on the lower west side of Manhattan behind of the World Trade Center. The girls enjoyed hamming it up along the way and the views of the Statue of "Liverty" (as Carolina kept calling it) were magnificent even on a cloudy day. By the time we neared the Brookfield mall area, Nacho had zoned in on the Hudson Eats food court and decided that sounded good for his birthday lunch. Of course it was more like early dinner, but who cares. We were not on anybody's schedule but our own which felt good. Nacho and I split some of the Asian dumplings while he had a lamb noodle soup and I got the "manly" Umami Burger and sweet potato fries slathered in maple syrup. Yum. Despite not planning things to death, it was all working out pretty well and our time watching the lanterns in the Winter Garden glow and change colors gave Nacho a chance to call home.
The walk through Ground Zero and its monuments was an unintentionally sobering part of the day. It was the first time the girls have been down there and it was a lot to explain when I wasn't really expecting to. They already knew from last September 11th that there had been buildings there, but seeing the giant reflecting pools filling the aching holes in the ground was all too real. Elisa couldn't believe the buildings had been that large. We managed to take it all in as we moved ever closer to our subway ride home. And just like that, my little New Yorkers were on the train and thinking about the cupcakes we were carrying home for Papa's birthday treat. I suppose life is like that when you are their age. I was still feeling the heaviness of that site, so it was good to be back home and have a reason to celebrate life. Turning 40 these days isn't what it was when my parents were that age. For my mom's 40th we pushed her around in a wheel chair and tied black balloons to it. Over the Hill. Past your prime. These days the milestone is just another sign that we are in fact growing up. Ever so slowly. And for Nacho it marks the goal he had to make it to a major airline before he turned the big 4-0. And of course he nailed that with the move to Delta last May. Yes, I'd say he's on course for a great decade and I am glad that at the beginning of it we were there to serenade him (first in the elevator and later at home) with beautiful music and plenty of love. We might outnumber Nacho with our feminine wiles, but I think he's used to it by now. And we are all very glad he's ours. Happy birthday.
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