Yesterday my still-new schedule was a little off. I ended up sleeping in a bit, spending some time with Larry. I decided to wait until after chores and housework to head to the gym. I did vary my route – I’ve been trying to walk every street between here and the 14th Street YMCA  in an effort to better know my neighborhood. There is no rhyme or reason to the path I choose. It may be as simple as which street has the crossing light, or which corner has a promising path of sunlight, or which street has some architecture that I’ve not yet marveled at, or which area has a person or canyons of uncollected trash that I’d rather avoid. Sometimes, I’m just lost in my thoughts and don’t have a lot of awareness about which street I’m choosing. I’m pretty sure this was how I ended up turning the corner of 27th onto Park. I took three or four steps, and then heard someone call my name behind me. 

In a city with almost 2 million people in it, someone recognized me. Me? I hadn’t been here more than 9 days and knew no one in Manhattan. I turned around and saw Emily, a friend, co-worker, confidante, and all around lovely person from our time at the Bavarian International School in Germany. I hadn’t seen Emily in person since before the pandemic. And while we are Facebook friends, liking and commenting on posts as they appear in our timelines, we hadn’t exactly stayed in touch since we left Germany. She is very busy with her husband, three kids and full time career. To see her standing on the corner smiling in disbelief that we ran into each other absolutely blew my mind. Emily has a gorgeous smile. She’s tall and striking, and here she was! Hugging me on the corner of Park Street. 

It turns out she was in the city for her school. She had just dropped off a group of students at a local theater and had a couple hours. 
“I was having a hard time deciding where to get coffee,” she said. 
“I have no idea why I took this particular route to the gym,” I confessed,  and we both understood we were meant to meet and we were both giddily stunned at the coincidence.

“Let’s get coffee and catch up.”
“Where should we go?”

I cast about, we were next to Sarabeth’s, but it didn’t feel like what we were looking for. So even though I am so very new here and don’t know where I am half the time, I said confidently, “Let’s head towards Union Square.” In truth, I wasn’t 100% sure I was going the right way, but I took the lead regardless, and we started chatting easily. I began to recognize the green space ahead, and I steered us to Irving Place, a street between Gramercy Park and Union Square that caught my eye the first time I stumbled upon it. It is so quaint and hip and beautiful and charming. All the things that make New York so romantic. We found a popular coffee shop that had some gluten-free options for her and cold brew for me. We took the last seats outside and over the noise of the city we spent an hour together. 

I loved talking with Emily. Catching up was wonderful, hearing about Rob and the kids. She and her family left Germany last summer and moved to Hudson and new jobs. I especially liked talking with her about New York. She is very familiar with the city, having spent time here when she was younger. One thing she said really stuck with me:

I never really understood the law of attraction until I came here, she said. New York is a mirror. It will give you back whatever you put out. If you are shining, New York will shine. You’ll get the cross lights. You’ll catch your train. You’ll avoid the gross stuff on the sidewalk. You’ll find the good. But if you are in a bad mood or your energy is off, that’s when you’ll get jostled on the street. You’ll get rained on. You’ll get pigeon poop on your shoulder. You’ll spill your coffee. Whenever I start to feel annoyed or aggravated here, I realize I need to shake it off (here she shook her curls and smiled that dazzling smile) and adjust my attitude. New York will meet you where you’re at. It will give you back what you put out. 

I think she’s on to something. I’ve tried to be open to possibilities and opportunities since arriving here last week. I’ve certainly been in an amazing mood, grateful and in awe. It looks like New York rewarded me with a beautiful, spontaneous hour with a friend. And that in turn put me in an amazing mood, grateful and in awe.  And so goes the blessings of New York.