Thursday, November 1, 2012

SANDY-fied!

My birthday comes each year like clockwork.  And it’s impossible to forget because stores stock up on candy for trick-or-treaters and costumes and all kinds of ghoulish decorations.  I’ve become very adept at fooling myself that everybody is really celebrating me, after all, it does seem only natural and super fabulous that I was born on Halloween.
John Legend flanked by my honey & me
This year my celebrating began last Saturday, when my honey and I were fortunate enough to get complimentary tickets to attend the John Legend concert at the Borgata in Atlantic City.  This was something a little different and quite extraordinary.  I hadn’t been to Atlantic City in over a decade when my honey surprised me with Johnny Mathis tickets.  So let the festivities BEGIN!  The only problem was that an uninvited guest named Sandy was threatening to ruin everything.  As I tweeted updates of every step of my adventure beginning at Port Authority where we were being whisked away by Academy Bus Co. to our destination, friends and family began to leave posts on my Facebook page warning me, “They’re shutting down Atlantic City!  Sandy is coming!”  Once I was assured by David L. who had procured the tickets for me +1 that John (we’re on a first name basis!) was still going on as scheduled, I took an I DARE YOU, SANDY attitude.  John was awesome and so was his opening act Leah Smith.  And as an added bonus, so was hanging out with him backstage after the show!  But my devil-may-care attitude was short lived, because Atlantic City was being shut down at 4 p.m. the next day.  Although I’d heard all the weather predictions about this “Frankenstorm”, I was not a believer.  “Kiss my ASSETS, Sandy!” I’d seen New Yorkers in a panic with Irene and I was so not buying into the mass hysteria.  But just to be on the safe side, my honey and I were safely back home in NYC by 2:30 Sunday afternoon!
Clearly, Sandy was intent on showing me a thing or two because she wreaked complete and utter havoc.  Homes and communities and Roller Coasters have been destroyed.  A friend of mine who didn’t even live in an evacuation zone almost perished when water rushed into her apartment threatening to drown her.  She lost all her worldly possessions.  Luckily, she got away with her life.  And as I write this in the dark, I am waiting for Con Ed to restore electricity to my block after power was shut down due to sparking wires.  Sandy definitely won out this time.  My celebration was seriously curtailed.  And yet I remain grateful for another birthday and another breath.  Things could have been so much worse.
Peace & Fashion!