I know. I spelled it wrong! But when I was little, that was how I pronounced the Statue of Liberty.
If any of my family members see the title of this blog, they’ll be groaning. They’re sick to death of hearing about the Statue of Liberty, and the fact that I have never gotten to see the famous lady. For the rest of you who haven’t heard my tale of woe, hang on—you’re about to hear it.
Back in the dark ages, when I was about six years old and my sister was seven, my aunt and uncle decided to make a trip to New Jersey to visit friends. During the trip, they planned to stop and see the Statute of Liberty. So far, so good. However, things turned a little ugly when said aunt and uncle decided they would take my sister along for the sojourn, but I would have to remain at home. They used the excuse that I since I was prone to car sickness, it wouldn’t be a good idea to take me. We lived in Pittsburgh, so it really wasn’t like we would have been driving across the entire country, so I didn’t buy into that explanation.
No matter the reason, I didn’t get to go along and visit the Statue of Liberty. In my sister’s defense, I have to admit that she wasn’t involved in the decision-making process. But at six years old, I wasn’t convinced she couldn’t have convinced my aunt and uncle to take me along. I was certain she could have dug in her heels and insisted that if I didn’t go, she wouldn’t either. And when she returned home with her tale of seeing the famous lady and climbing those steps to look out over New York Harbor—well, I wasn’t one bit happy.
Since then, whenever anyone mentions going to New York City, I regale them with my woeful tale, and the fact that I’ve never seen the Statue of Liberty. So, when my daughter recently decided to visit New York City, the Statue story returned front and center. I think my souvenirs were intended to appease me. And while I like my hat and sunglasses, I think I’ll still try for the real thing one day.
How about you? Any place you’ve been longing to visit for most of your life?
ROFLOL! Love that pic, Judy. And love you! I've seen the famous lady, but it was years ago. Back in high school on a chorus trip. The memory is hazy, but one thing isn't… I don't remember seeing those glasses in the tourist gift shop! ; )
ReplyDeleteOh Judy, this food for the soul! There were two places that I badly wanted to visit.
ReplyDeleteAs a little girl I dreamed of going to Buckingham Palace and Disneyland and oh both sooo far away from my home! I always wanted to experience being inside the Queen's Palace and I dreamed of what I would say to her when we met! LOL!
Well,aged 50, I made it to the Palace for the first time (albeit her State Apartments) and have been very fortunate to re visit and I NEVER tire of going there. I love it.:)
We did not see Her Majesty at the Palace,but I did see her at Windsor Castle. She just happened to be in Residence when we were there.. sadly, my dream of speaking to her was not realised(I always thought the Fairy Queen waved her magic wand and EVERYTHING came TRUE! :) However,we got a wave and a smile, so that did suffice.
As for my other childhood dream? Disneyland, here we come! We are visiting there next year. I was an avid fan of the Mickey Mouse Club so now I get to see him. *Grin*
You lovely Americans may all well laugh( and I do too) at my wish, but when one lives "Down Under", one finds it a little more difficult to visit these exciting places.:)
Looking forward to next year BIG TIME! LOL.
Glad the picture gave you a laugh, Tammy--I didn't want to post it, but Jenna insisted. LOL. I think she believes it's just retribution after listening to that story for all these years! I'd never seen the sunglasses before, either, although I have seen lots of people wearing the foam headgear when they visit the Today show.
ReplyDeleteHi Rosie,
ReplyDeleteBuckingham Palace and Disneyland--pretty diverse wishes, for sure. :)
Glad you're going to finally cross Disneyland off your bucket list of places to visit next year! I think it will prove an entirely different experience from your visit to Buckingham Palace.
Wow Judy! Did you and Tammy forget to go to bed last night? I got a shock when I saw the time of your posts.:)
ReplyDeleteJudy, you look so cute with your hat and sunnies.. but I do hope you get the chance to visit the Statue of Liberty soon:)
If anyone is yearning to visit Aus, we'll show you a good time!LOL!
LOL -- love this story and the way you prounced State of Liverty when you were a wee one. I want to know if you are planning on wearing those snazzy sunglasses / hat out and about? Hope you get to see the lady up close yourself one day...hmmmm, maybe you should write a book around her. Then you'd be sure to go for research purposes!
ReplyDeleteI have a HUGE bucket list of places I'd like to see since I never go anywhere! And Disney World is at the top of my list too!!! The rest of the places are linked to books I have read and might sound boring to some.
Like Iowa. And Kansas. Indiana. Ohio...well nearly all the states. I plan to do a literary tour some day!!!! :-)
Whoopsie -- that should be Statue of Liverty!
ReplyDeleteLet me know when you get that trip to the Statue planned, Kav. Maybe we could meet up. I did think about the possibility of writing something that required a visit and still haven't completely ruled out that idea. Great minds do think alike. :)
ReplyDeleteOh Judy! You look SO adorable in that photo! And the way you pronounced "liberty" is precious--reminds me of various mis-pronunciations of words I heard during my years of teaching first grade and Kindergarten (to this day I have trouble saying "spaghetti" correctly, because so many of my little students always called it "puh-sketti" LOL). I do hope you'll be able to visit the Lady in person one day--and I agree with the story/research idea. I'd love to read a book written by you centered around the famous statue! Hugs, Patti Jo
ReplyDeleteJudy, score points for the hat! Now we need to see if you can get a torch. Maybe you could borrow the Olympics torch now that they are over. Perhaps, TAMMY, could get it for you since she's already been "frisked" by the agents at the airport--LOL!
ReplyDeleteThere have been many places I've traveled to, but our Lady Liberty is not one I've been to. Might place that on the list. One most definitely I long to see is Israel. That would be awesome!
Hugs to everyone!
Hi Patti Jo, Love the 'puh-sketti' pronunciation. Course I love to eat puhsketti, too. :) I'll let you know once I get Lady Liberty figured into a book. :)
ReplyDeleteHi Miriam! Oh, I love your idea about a torch. Maybe we should begin a company and sell those in Times Square--they'd be perfect! My mom traveled to Israel with a group from her church years ago and she had such a wonderful experience. I think it would be an awesome trip, too.
Hugs back atcha,
Judy
Judy, I haven't gotten to see the old lady in person either. Guess we'll have to plan a trip there - maybe a Statue of Liverty Booksigning Party??? We could get all our writer friends here and elsewhere to meet at the Statue and bring books.
ReplyDeleteTracie
Judy, I loved visiting the Statue of Liberty, even climbing the stairs inside of her. And I came home with a hat just like yours but without the glasses. However, the part of that tourist ferry trip that I loved the most was the stop at Ellis Island. That was the inspiration for my Coming to America series. I was with several contemporary writers who kept rushing me through, but if I was there again, I would try to spend the better part of a day in it. You really can "feel" the presence of all of those people who passed through that building.
ReplyDeleteLOL, Miriam! I'm on it!! ; )
ReplyDeleteI'm willing to do a book signing at the statue, Tracie. Just let me know when to be there!!
ReplyDeleteRobin, don't you just hate it when those 'non-history' types try to rush us along while we ooh and aah while drooling over the exhibits and artifacts? They just don't get it. : )
Judy, Judy, Judy. You always set the trend with fashion!
ReplyDeleteAs for seeing Lady Liverty, I've been there three times. Each time, the tour went far too fast. The first time(32 years ago) we were still allowed to climb up inside--but the torch was off limits. They had a huge subterranean museum with awesome displays. The second and third times, the museum was resituated and seemed abbreviated. The docents are magnificent! They take you on a walking tour of the Ellis Island facility and discuss processing, holding, medical exams, how they fed the immigrants, etc. They've preserved grafitti from that era, too.
Treat yourself! GO! I wanna come along. We'll grab Tracie and be the Three Musketeers again.
Rosie--will you come to Disneyland, Calif, or DisneyWorld, Florida?
Cathy, who watches the Disneyland fireworks every single night.
Cathy, we're staying at the Carousel Inn at Anaheim..works in much better with the time we have available, before we leave for Phoenix and we think is better value for our money. Florida might be a bit exey, but no offence meant to the Floridians! I'm so looking forward to our whole trip!:)
ReplyDeleteHey Blogger! What's with the code? It's going funny on me again! I've had about 6 attempts so far, to get this comment up!! Anyone else having a problem or is it just me??!!
Oops not again! Coming up no 7!
Now 8! Now 9!
Cathy--you're given me even more Statue of Liverty envy what with hearing you've made 3 trips!! Not fair at all. :)
ReplyDeleteRosie, it doesn't seem to matter too much what letters I type into that Blogger thing, it lets me go ahead and sign-in. Maybe it realizes it's the only way I'll ever be able to post!
I'm so late responding to this post, but I'll try anyway. I have visited "The Lady" and Ellis Island at least twice. You gotta go, particularly to see the exhibits at Ellis Island, brings tears to your eyes (in a good way). Now about that hat and those glasses hmmmm...a little overkill don't you think? bahahahahaha I am crackin' up! Love you Judy!
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