I was going through some old pictures and found one that brought back a veritable flood of memories.
When I lived alone in my studio apartment in Manhattan, back in the late 70s, early 80s...I was working full time but also going part time to Hunter College. I was surrounded by people all day, yet, there were times when I felt lonely.
I knew some people in my building, but they weren't "friends" per se. Acquaintances. And I knew the other gals in the medical office I worked in, but they didn't live in the city and one was engaged, another was married. And I didn't find anyone at school to connect with, either.
So, I packed myself off to a couple of "events" at the 92nd Street "Y" which was just around the corner from me. A couple of times some ladies there tried to hook me up with their sons. Nerp.
Then, one evening...there was another young woman. We started talking. She was French. She was in NY for a "semester" of in-house experience. Not sure if I recall correctly, but I think it was a perfume company. She was lucky that she had an aunt who lived in Flushing Meadow, near the site of the 1964 World's Fair, where the Unisphere still stands.
Her name was Annie, Annie Bollard. And although I knew she was only going to be around temporarily, we hit it off immediately. Her English wasn't perfect and luckily I remembered quite a bit of my high school French at that time...so we understood each other quite perfectly with our "Franglish."
We were together most weekends. Sometimes we would walk along the "fancy" streets, Madison and Fifth Avenue. As the weather got warmer, we would go to the park, strolling or sometimes lying down in the grass, staring up at the leaves and the sky.
We would also noodle around Greenwich Village, we would go to the movies (she LOVED getting ice in her drinks!) or we would get some ice cream.
One time we explored Chinatown. On a whim we decided to go into a restaurant. I forget what I ordered (I was not and still am not adventurous when it comes to food.) But Annie ordered some kind of fish. I will never forget the look of total horror on her face as the waiter put down her plate. All the color drained from her face and she just sat there with her eyes wide as saucers and said "No...no.....no....no." It was an entire fish...eyes, head...scales...a freaking fish. I explained to the waiter that she must have misunderstood what the menu said....they were very gracious and brought her something else.
We had a "sleepover" at her aunt's apartment. As if we were still teenage girls. We had snacks and watched TV and talked and talked and talked.
It was painful to realize that she would be going back to France. At that time I doubted I would ever have the money or the nerve to travel overseas. I had met the young man who was going to become my husband and father of my child and Annie was happy that I had someone to be with and to be happy with.
Seeing the one and only picture I have of her brought it all back. I'm so sorry we lost touch (it wasn't as easy back then) and looking at the photo made me miss her all over again.
