Six Of Us Together For Lunch

We didn’t say anything profound. We didn’t discuss anything weighty. We ate and enjoyed each others company. I wouldn’t have traded that for the world!

My family is small. Helaine and I have one daughter. My sister has two daughters and a son. Staying close is important. I was poor at doing just that for a good part of my adult life.

That’s why today was so important.

My nephew and one of my nieces were on their way to New York City with their respective boyfriend and girlfriend. Helaine and I made a date to meet them for lunch.

I love Manhattan. Though inconveniently a bus and subway away it was my playground as a kid. It’s still exhilarating to be there.

Getting to the city is even more of a hassle today. We are at the very end of Metro North’s New Haven line–72 miles on the local! It was worth every inch.

We arranged to meet Matt and Melissa at the Stage Deli on 7th Avenue just north of Times Square. The Stage is known for oversized sandwiches, matzoh ball soup and the fact show business legends used to come there&#185. If you eat lunch at The Stage there’s no need for dinner!

Helaine and I got there around 1:00 PM followed by Melissa and her boyfriend Mark. Matt and his girlfriend Becky showed up ten minutes later.

Maybe this is commonplace in your family. With ours spread coast-to-coast (and even Matt and Melissa living in Illinois and Wisconsin respectively) it’s a big deal.

We didn’t say anything profound. We didn’t discuss anything weighty. We ate and enjoyed each others company.

I wouldn’t have traded that for the world!

Our trip to The City was brief. We had lunch, hopped in a taxi and were on the 3:07 train back to New Haven.

This day started as my nephew Matt’s idea. Smart kid.

&#185 – I’ve been coming for years and have never seen anyone famous. My Uncle Dave, a waiter there in the 50s and 60s used to talk about the celebs who came in and how they tipped. This is why I’m a good tipper.

10 thoughts on “Six Of Us Together For Lunch”

  1. I wouldn’t have traded it for anything in the world either! Love, love, love to see you and Aunt Helaine. I forget just how much I miss you guys sometimes. Today was a great reminder. I love you both a lot! Can’t wait for our next date 🙂 xo

  2. What a great picture of your family Geoff! Looks like the food was yummy too! New York City is very exciting to visit. So much to do there. I live in Connecticut but I am from New Jersey and had many opportunities to visit the city and always had a great time. Looks like you and your family had a great time too! As they say, it’s the city that never sleeps. Thanks for sharing!

  3. Glad you and your family had such a wonderful gathering. What a joyous photo! I was also in NYC today to see my daughter perform in a play. Afterward we had a great meal at Kennedy’s on W. 57th. Just got back home in CT, listening to the wind hollowing outside and watching news coverage about the tragic death of Whitney Houston. What a sad ending to a happy day.

  4. You can be a billionaire and IF you do NOT have family to share it with you’re as poor as a church mouse !! Good example of you “being a family” Congrats !!

  5. Melissa’s comment to you says it all. Family is the most important reason to wake up every day….Thank you for sharing, dear.

  6. Evi– do you need a recipe for the soup, the matzoh balls or both?

    Ina Garten’s recipes for chicken soup and matzo balls are pretty authentic and almost exactly how my Mom taught me to make them. Go to http://www.foodnetwork.com and search for them. Ina is also known as “the Barefoot Contessa”.

    Good luck! there is nothing better matzoh ball soup on a cold winter’s day!

  7. Evi… here you go… link to both recipes.

    http://www.foodnetwork.com/search/delegate.do?Nr=Record%20Type:Result&N=4294959876&fnSearchString=matzo%20ball%20soup

    frankly, I just buy the matzoh ball mix at Stop and Shop and add a little onion powder and dill weed to the mixture. then i add them to the homemade soup.

    ok, Geoff, Evi, now i’m gonna have to make chicken soup with matzoh balls this week!!!! you gave me a craving! It’s all your fault!

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *