The following occurred several years ago near an apartment where I once lived. Perhaps a mere dozen stories tall, my neighboring building offered eight studio apartments per floor. Over the decades, time and rental wear and tear would take its toll, and by the early 1970s new owners had cleaned up the old girl, painting her decorative facade like the belle of a ball to which she was never invited.
I received this email from my 84-year-old friend and neighbor who lives alone in a West Village apartment. I laughed as I read it and wanted to share this with you knowing many of you can relate and laugh too.
What if each of us already is what we couldn’t even dare to dream we could become? What if there is reality that is free of conflict, free of the suffering, of trying so hard to be the person we are conditioned to believe we are supposed to be? And what if all we have to do is to learn to clear away the obstacles preventing us from living the truth that we already are?
I first heard of pickleball about 15 years ago from my neighbor Mark, who was an avid player. He would make the trek from the West Village to Stuytown regularly to play on what were probably the only courts in town at the time. He described the game and invited me to join but I couldn’t get past the name “pickleball.”
Many of the older adults who come through Greenwich House’s Older Adult Centers are navigating some kind of loss. A spouse or partner may have passed away. Friends they’ve known for decades may have died, one by one. Their children may have grown up and moved away, and the calls and visits may have become less frequent. Over time, those losses can shrink a person’s world in ways that aren’t always immediately visible.
The West Village has many historic, century-old brick townhouses and warehouses, and has one of the larger historic districts in the city. Now, larger buildings or parcels are getting the mansion treatment, especially properties located outside of the historic districts, with fewer restrictions on development. Case in point: numbers 7 and 11 on Charles Lane will soon be developed by Aurora Capital Associates.
I’ve walked by this ultra-simplistic brick building at 777-781 Washington Street weekly, noticing the ‘private property’ signs but never seeing any activities there. Curiosity got me to look for information in the public realm and here is what I found to explain this unusual building.
I did my first cleanse at an ashram in the ‘80s, where I learned about internal hygiene and other wellness practices used in Ayurveda to keep the immune system strong. It stopped my acute neuralgic pain. I intended to do another cleanse, but the time was never right. In 2018, I was retired with chronic health problems ─ and forgetting words and keys. It was time.
I got my turtle in the pet department of W. T. Grants when I was in kindergarten and put her in a plastic bowl on the kitchen counter next to the sink.
When new immigrants come to the United States, whether they are ethnic, racial, religious, or political groups, they are immediately faced with the need to assimilate into American society. There are some changes that occur which are common to all groups. T
