It has been a full year since i first visited New York City. Growth and change, beauty and grace along with  heartache and pain have painted the landscape of the past 365 days of my life. I was agreeing with my whole heart to venture back into the city that so rocked me merely a year ago, and felt a strange kind of peace as I packed my bag. I was asked to use my camera to capture my little cousin’s proposal to his boyfriend on stage after The Lion King. Memories of our childhood games of Nala, Simba, timone and pumba flooded my consciousness as I soared over the low country into the city that keeps launching me into the future. 

He came to my seat five times during the flight delay to make sure he had all the specs right. Did the battery unplug fully? Was there a way I could make sure it did not turn on while in the plane? Did I know the pilot had been on the phone the past 2 hours trying to get this damn mobility device in the air? I didn’t have any answers to his questions other than the documentation I had on my person. I also had a quarter. 

At the end of his rope, I tossed out an idea, “ heyyyyyy, soo what if you taped a quarter over the ‘on’ button and then put cardboard and an ass load of tape over it to keep it in place? I know, that’s pretty ghetto, but maybe it could work?” The baggage worker  looked at me with hesitation and a playful smirk in his eye. We didn’t speak the same language, so I guided him as he taped caution tape over the quarter. 

We held our breath as he “tested” his “prototype”. It worked. The segway was officially TSA ready, and I was on my way to New York City with my futureriffic mobility device under my bare feet. 

At 12:30 am i finally rolled through the doors of my safe haven in the city: Adam and Tansy’s Astoria Abode. The bed welcomed me after a long 14 hour traveling day with countless hiccups and delays. My legs were numb and my body tired, but my heart soured as I felt a sense of homecoming in my heartbeat.

“When was the last time you had a saturday to do absolutely nothing?” I asked Tansy with a yawn. We both giggled agreed that TODAY was going to be the Saturday of rest in the garden while we talked and gabbed about life and sex and friends and marriage and owning your own business and alabama and love and the future and soul mates and lovelovelovelove and beautybeautybeauty and omg i’m so happy to have a girlfriend in my life who gets me again yesssssssss. She took me to dinner to eat the best burgers. During our crash course on “using instagram stories for dummies”, we stumbled upon  the catalyst for the Sunday Funday we would spend together.

His name was Ranier and he was available for adoption and they were open ALL DAY on Sunday. We, well at least i know that i....went to bed on Saturday super excited and anxious and nervous and ready for what the next day would bring me: puppies, time with my new soul-friend AND THEN the proposal and partypartyparutyparty. The last time I danced was at Field  Trip in March. I was ready to get down with my family and my friends. I closed my eyes as my soul sighed, hopeful that tomorrow would redeem my bad experiences in THE CITY of so many dreams. 

The morning light was easy and slow as I prepped for the day ahead: did I have all of my cromolyn sodium bottles? Did I have compression socks? Spanx? Did I need more bracing for my knees? Do I look cute and are all of the ugly medicinal things I need to wear to covered? I masked the medicinal qualities of my outfit and the pain i was carrying with a beautiful dress my best friend Kim made, and a bit of makeup and lots of herbs and herbs and herbs. 

Our objectives for the day were easily attainable: visit tansy’s work studio, go find a dog (super easy), take dope photos at kirk’s proposal and not cry the whole time, hang out over the city with my friend and then dance all night. In hindsight, i realize that this was pretty ambitious. But, the pain was muted so I pushed forward. 

* all photos are film shot by meghillphoto unless otherwise stated