I Want To Be A Part Of It
- michael832652
- Jan 13
- 3 min read
New York, New York - September 12th-14th, 2025
In early summer, as my dad's health started to decline, my brother and sister and I started talking about life and death and the realization that this could be the last chapter for my dad. 88 and declining but still sharp as a tack and mobile enough, albeit with a walker, we thought it would be fun to take a trip all together to one of his favorite places, New York City. "What do you think?" "I think it would be fun and dad would love it - Let's go!" Along comes mid August and plans started to come together, we sprang it on mom and dad at a dinner at their house. They were less than enthused. I was expecting more of an OMG reaction or a "Wow, that sounds fantastic! Almost crickets, but we knew once the time had come, it was going to be fabulous. "Where should we stay?" my sister asked. I replied, "I've got dad's credit card, wherever you like!" While the old man took care of it all, at his wish, we stayed at an old familiar of his the Omni Berkshire. Great location and still holds up. We planned a real quickie, in on Friday morning, out on Sunday night. Friday night supper, Saturday morning service at one of the loveliest congregations on the upper east side, and after a lunch a walk away. Saturday night show, Sunday morning museum an easy brunch and back to LGA. We packed it in the short time we were there. Myself, the Mrs, my brother and sister and the sister and brother in law. No kids, just the adults. A fantastic meal, a Broadway show, (Chicago) a museum, (The Met), 5th Avenue, Pickleball in Central Park, bagels on Sunday morning - if that's not NYC, not sure what is. When you pack it in, you need to get a good night rest and a lovely place to lay your head.
SET UP
As mentioned, the Omni Berkshire - great old school hotel and still has its charm. Almost perfect location, although what isn't in that place, but at the corner of 52nd and Madison. The Mrs and I in a king room that was spacious and more than enough - who's in the room anyways.
MATTRESS
Serta Perfect Sleeper - the Omni Hotels Collection. Meh. Double sided pillowtop all for show. This lets the Serta people sell them on this idea that a double pillowtop will extend it's life and the corporations love this, until they actually sleep on it themselves and realize that it just becomes mushy and too soft and lacks all the inner support. Now, please don't let me confuse you all, as you know I am a softy, but there is a difference between soft and mushy. Soft can still be supportive, mushy is all the fabric has folded in and you can no longer feel any on top feeling at all, almost hammocking. NO GOOD. I have slept on a lot of Serta's and a lot of double pillowtops, but this one hasn't held up - maybe they forgot to rotate it in the off months!
SLEEP
Not horrible, but not wonderful. The room has good circulation in it and the fan wasn't overpowering so that helped. This wasn't a banger of a trip, early to bed and relatively early to rise.
OVERALL
My mom and dad, my brother and sister, my wife and my brother and sister in law. I'm lucky, really lucky. Out of the 7 of them, I only chose 1. I love them all with all my heart and I know they feel the same about all 8 of us. We travelled well together, not the first time nor last, and had some wonderful experiences. It was an outstanding absolutely amazing 60 hours with my mom and dad. So glad we had this time together and hoping we can plan something again very soon. My dad is a happy man, he is happy that his family is happy - at this point in his life he has done all he can and knows that we are a great unit. To him this is his greatest accomplishment. I love him and my mom dearly and hope this final chapter will be the longest of them all. 😊🥒⚽🗽🚕❤️
GREAT REALTED LINKS
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