I hate saying goodbye.

I’m not good at it. I never have been.

I don’t know what is worse, saying goodbye, or not being able to say goodbye. I have experienced both.

Endings are hard.

Some people let them roll of their back and quickly move on. The rest of us struggle.

One of the most poignant thoughts I ever read about endings came from Robert Anderson’s play “I Never Sang For My Father.”

“Death ends a life, but it does not end a relationship, which struggles on in the survivor’s mind towards some final resolution, some clear meaning, which it perhaps never finds.”

With the anniversary of September 11th approaching, I feel vulnerable. Not physically but emotionally. And it somehow feels necessary to remind all the special people in my life how much they mean to me.

Consider yourself told.

May G-d bless you and yours.

In Memoriam – 9/11. For everyone who suffered on that horrific day… I wish you and your loved ones peace.

Look for HCFG and I on the Great Lawn, we’ll be the ones having a really good time!

Hope to see you there!

Lisa: “You know the owners of that furniture aren’t going to be too happy, their stuff is starting to get wet.”

Doorman: “It’s actually all going to be hauled away.”

Lisa: “Why?”

Doorman: “You know that elderly woman in 8F? No? Maybe you didn’t know her, she didn’t come downstairs very much. Well she had to go live in a nursing home and this is all the stuff from her apartment.”

Lisa: “Doesn’t she have children or friends who might want it?”

Doorman in a whisper: “Her son is a jerk, he doesn’t give a shit about her. He said he didn’t want any of her crap, just to throw it all out. He said he didn’t care what we did with it, just get rid of it.”

I felt terribly sad. To think a lifetime of loved and cherished items ended up in the trash heap, and that her son didn’t even care enough about her to go through her things. It was quite poignant watching it rain on her now unwanted items.

I looked outside again and a pine microwave kitchen stand caught my eye. It was well made and in good shape.

Lisa: “Do you think it would be o.k. if I took this? It’s a really nice piece and I have been wanting one for ages.”

Doorman: “Sure, go ahead. It’s just going to the trash otherwise.”

I also rescued a two record album set, “Satchmo at Symphony Hall.”

I put the pine stand in my kitchen and it looks wonderful. It gives me extra storage space and brightens up the room. Although I never knew her, I said a quiet “thank you” and then said a prayer for her. And I will think of her sometimes.

I just hope she never knows what her son said and did.

Because no one deserves that.

I’m slammed with a boatload of stuff after 10 days away, so please cut me a bit of slack. I promise I’ll be visiting your blogs tomorrow and catch up on all your news.

See you soon!

“Babe, look at that.”

“That is so beautiful.”

“It’s absolutely magical, I feel like it was created just for us.”

Several hours earlier…

My building is endowed with an over-efficient boiler. It’s only a few years old and really does its job. Translation? My building is always hot. Africa hot. We all complain about it, and there is absolutely nothing that can be done except turn the whole damn thing off. Which would be fine for my ilk, but all the little old ladies living here would have a fit. Trust me on that one. My radiators have been closed since I’ve lived here. Despite that, there is still a lot of heat rising from the floors below me, and my windows are always open in the winter. Ally da Pup sleeps next to the fan to cool off. HCFG who is warm-blooded (yummy!) has been known to ask that the air conditioning be turned on when it’s 30 degrees outside.

Tonight was another one of those nights. HCFG requested the air conditioner but I resisted. He opened the bedroom window instead. My apartment faces another building and everything was dark. We were half asleep when some lights came on.

My neighbor had turned on the lights on her Christmas tree. And there were no other lights anywhere. Her small tree was lined up just perfectly, to shine through her window and into ours, so it lit up our room like a magical fairy tale.

It was absolutely enchanting. What a gift to realize that such a small thing could bring so much pleasure.

Hope your holidays are just as special and bright!

Happy Hanukkah, Merry Christmas, and Kwanzaa greetings from Lisa B., HCFG, and Ally da Pup.

(This post originally appeared on Kizmeet)

Two years ago I dressed as a trampy tavern wench, and marched in the West Village parade with Deni and her dog, Rosie.

Last year I trick or treated with my neighbors and their dogs. The dogs were in costume, respectively Dracula, Darth Vader, and Easy Rider, (complete with sunglasses.) My friends and I were all in street clothes. I absolutely refused to dress Ally da Pup in costume, she would have died of shame. Ally must retain her street cred after all!

I had fun both times, they were wonderfully silly and surreal nights. As Halloween should be!

Now I need your help! Please make suggestions on what costumes HCFG and I should wear this year. We will be wearing the costumes twice as we’re going to the parade again, (no marching this year!) We’re also invited to a Halloween party the night before that.

I can’t wait to hear your ideas, so let ‘em rip, guys and ghouls!

Lisa: “It’s getting scary out there.”

HCFG: “Don’t I know it. I see companies imploding every day.”

Lisa: “This crash is happening so fast. Almost like it’s overnight. Where did all the money go?”

Click here

Fall in New York!

I love it, I love it, I love it!!!

I really appreciate that you are fixing the street to offer me better service – that’s very gracious of you! Especially in view of the fact that my electric bill went up 30% this summer. It’s so nice to know I’m getting something for my money. I just can’t begin to tell you how much I love about the way I love the smell of napalm in the morning a monopoly!

However, I really don’t enjoy sparks raining down on me nice Flashdance homage though as you slash ginormous pipes, not to mention potholes so large you could lose an entire family, filthy smelly gravel mixed with tar, and my personal favorite, eliminating most of the street parking for OVER A MONTH. Plus the fact that I see no signs of you leaving anytime soon is a bit disturbing. That takes the concept of “asphalt jungle” to a new level!

Thank you for your prompt attention to this matter. I look forward to resolving buh bye already this situation soon.

Kindest Regards,

Lisa B.

And now for something completely different!

Something new is coming to Lisa B in Da City later in the week. I hope you’ll have some big fun with it – I know I’m going to!

Stay tuned…

Lisa: “What would you like to do today? The weather is glorious, all crisp and cool – great walking around weather. Shall we just go wander or do you want to do something special?”

Mom: “I would like to cook supper for the two of us and HCFG tonight. Where’s a good place to shop?”

Lisa: “Yum! If it’s not too much trouble then that would be awesome. How about if we go down to 14th Street? The Farmers Market aka the Union Square Greenmarket is running today. I remember you really enjoyed it last time. We can get lots of freshly grown veggies and fruit and eat quite healthy tonight.”

Mom: “That would be wonderful. I definitely enjoyed going there last year, their produce was very nice. And when we’re done buying all that healthy stuff, let’s go to 2nd Avenue Deli and eat pastrami sandwiches.”

Lisa: “Sounds good to me!”

The apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, I guess…