TheFirstChild is working in an internship this summer and he takes great delight in calling me frequently, crying into the phone, and bemoaning the fact that, oh, boohoo, the Dr. let him go early so he HAD to go play golf. Sort of a “You’re working and I’m Not.” (The first time he did this, his wailing was so convincing, I thought something was wrong. And btw, I’m very happy that he’s getting this little break, as I know that when school starts in the fall, he’ll be so busy he won’t even be able to spell G-O-L-F.) His most recent phone call came just as I sat down in my plane seat on my way to Newark last Monday.
So, Monday night, I was sitting in my hotel room, on the fence about whether I would go into NYC on this trip. On a whim, I decided to check the Good Morning America website and see who would be the featured artists for their Summer Concert Series in Bryant Park. Now, I’m not much of a music buff, so normally, I have no idea who the featured artist is. (Remember my trip last year when I happened upon Hannah Montana Who???)
But, this time — oh, how I knew the featured artists! Boyz II Men are the all-time favorite group of TheFirstChild, so that did it. I HAD to go into NYC and take pictures for my little cherub. But first, I HAD to call him, wailing into the phone of course, about how oh darn, my return flight on Friday wouldn’t be until the afternoon, and oh, boohoo, I guess I’ll just have to go see Boyz II Men in the park! That one phone call was SO worth all of TheFirstChild’s “You’re Working and I’m Not” phone calls. Boy, was he ever jealous!
Before this concert, I had no idea what Boyz II Men even looked like. I just knew that they were an R&B group, so it was fun for me to see them in person. And I must admit, I was a bit misty eyed, standing there in the crowd, remembering how TheFirstChild had played so much of their music in high school. It was also fun to see Diane Sawyer and Robin Roberts up close. They’re both so thin and pretty!
Boyz II Men have a very impressive music record. Their hit “End of the Road” (which they had the whole audience singing acapella!) spent 13 weeks as #1 on the pop charts, breaking Elvis’s record of 11 weeks for “Don’t Be Cruel”/”Hound Dog” (sorry Gurney!) Then, their hit “On Bended Knee” replaced their “I’ll Make Love to You” for a 6 week run on top of the charts. Only Elvis and the Beatles had ever replaced themselves on the pop charts.
The concert was way too short (what do you expect for free LOL!) They sang a Motown medley from their new album of old Motown Hits. That was fun as they were dancing too. Then they/we sang “End of the Road” which was very cool. When they were done, I went to the area where I thought they would leave the park.
First Robin Roberts came out. There were very few people hanging around and she stopped to talk with a few women. What a nice woman. She’s recovering from chemotherapy treatments and her hair is coming back in — isn’t she beautiful?
Then Boyz II Men came by. There were maybe 10 of us standing there (not counting security and people walking down the sidewalk.) They stopped and gave autographs, so now TheFirstChild has illegible scribbles on a piece of paper LOL. I have no idea who these kids are, but the Boyz were SO nice to their adoring fans — they took the time to chat with them, autographed a poster that these kids had, and posed for a picture with them. I was very, very impressed with their kindness.
All that excitement was over by 9:15 a.m., so I decided to head south and check out this beauty:
The Brooklyn Bridge. The day was just beautiful as I walked across it (I took the Statue of Liberty picture above from the bridge.) And now, Ms. Charmed, I won’t get lost if I need to go there again!
XOXO,
Anna