I’m back! I actually returned last Monday with jottings for a Tuesday or Wednesday post, but catching up with real life–laundry, berry picking, overnight with the Grands, beginning this year’s Kakalak anthology judging (800+ poems and 170 pieces of art!!) … the week slipped by. It feels good to be resettled and back at my window.

As I wrote in my last post, Hubby and I were gathering with my sisters, brother-in-law, and cousin for a little vacation, a first for us as a group. Individually we traveled from the Carolinas, various parts of Ohio, and Michigan, finally meeting up on Staten Island. An indication of how most of the week went is, while the guys were in the hotel getting our rooms and my sisters and I (the three of us affectionately called The Girls by our parents) stayed out in the SUV, our laughter still reached them. My brother-in-law told Hubby, ‘If we ever need to find them, we just have to follow the giggles.’ Laughing with my sisters was the best part of a great vacation.

That first night’s hotel had a walking path, gardens, and several sculptures. This one is titled, Spirit of 9/11 by Gregory Perillo. The placard reads: The Past …The structure of the World Trade Center, The Memory …The adult is the Spirit and Memory of the 274 victims who perished on 9/11 and all the heroes involved in children’s lives, The Future … the children– a soccer player and a baseball player handing the game ball to the Spirit as if to say “We are the future and you will never be forgotten.” The statue rests on a base with the names of the local 9/11 victims engraved on it. The garden is enclosed on one side by a wall engraved with the names of local men and women who died in the Viet Nam War.

This memory garden also includes an actual piece of metal from the World Trade Center and this phone booth. Some of you may remember a book review I did a while back, The Phone Booth at the Edge of the World by Laura Imai Messina, inspired by a real phone booth in Japan known as the Wind Phone, where people go to talk to deceased loved ones. Recognizing the significance of the booth I was both excited to see the replica, and curious about the person who cared enough to install it in this very appropriate space.

That person, or rather persons, are Lois and Richard Nicotra, their names are all over the bronze placards dedicating various statues and sculptures around this small business park. The Nicotras are entrepreneurs and business owners, but it’s their philanthropic activities that caught my attention (yes, I Googled them while I wandered the walking path). Their foundation supports various nonprofits on Staten Island, they’ve opened a day school, and an early college charter school. Higher education is important to the Nicotras, to the point they provide aid to the children and grandchildren of their employees.

 In the past they’ve also partnered with another corporation with a ‘Pay it Forward Project’, where each grant recipient received a $50 gift card to do some kindness for someone else. (They may still be doing it.) In one of the articles I read, Richard was quoted, “Just by buying a tray of cookies for a group of veterans, or bringing flowers to a nursing home; with $50, you can change someone’s day. There should be more niceness in the world. We always try our best to be nice.”

Reading the articles about the Nicotras got me thinking about Hubby and my giving habits, many of which consist of writing checks to local or non-local organizations we support, or buying items for the annual Christmas Giving Trees. But is that being ‘nice’? I sensed a difference reading about the various ways those gift card recipients were encouraged to Pay it Forward, they all involved a one-on-one connection–even if the purchased items went to a group. One can only truly be nice person-to-person.

I understand being nice doesn’t require a monetary element and while I may do okay, I’ll be more aware of my level of kindness from now on – there’s always room for improvement. This summer when I have Grands Week, we’ll have a Kindness Day when I give each of them some money (not $50 apiece!) and they’ll decide how to Pay it Forward.                                                                                                         

As my family and I gathered in the hotel lobby before dinner, I recognized the couple approaching us. They were quiet, humble and gracious, and the first thing Richard asked was, “Have you seen the gardens?” We assured him we had and especially the memorial garden … and the huge peonies along the walking path.

As we left Staten Island I had my first glimpse of Lady Liberty. She’s a beauty and her presence seemed a fitting end with my encounter with the Nicotras (and others I’ll tell you about next week) and what they–and our country–stand for, simple goodness and kindness.

The week away was wonderful (more about that next week), yet it’s always good to be back home. I’ll be back at my window on Monday. I hope you have a wonderful week!