One day in 1956 a young woman – me, Irene – answered a classified ad in the New York Times for an East Side apartment. She was currently living in a closet sized room in the Barbizon Hotel for Women, while Jack, her soon to be ex husband, remained in Brooklyn with Rick, their six old son – being looked after by his baby sitter, Mabel. He called her Mommy Mabel.

At this generally pre-feminist time, I worked as a textile designer in Manhattan. 

My objective was to find a suitable one bedroom space for myself and Rick while making history of his father, who never wanted kids in the first place. But accidents happen – more on that later.

Miraculously, there was a vacancy for five and a half rooms at a good address and a perfect rent-controlled price – less than $200 a month. Can you believe it? 

As I recall, it was a holiday weekend – Memorial Day? The management staff was vacationing, the office represented by a kid who apparently didn’t know that there was a long waiting list of people for deals like that who would gladly pay “under the table” for preference. Ignorance is bliss. I put my furniture in storage, Rick spent the summer in sleep-away camp, and I moved in with a cot, a card table, plus a couple of folding chairs, pots and pans. 

Flash forward 57 years. 

I could write a book about what these walls have witnessed. So be it – I guess I am actually doing just that. 

 IF THESE WALLS COULD TALK! 

The Ricky Years

 The Arnold Years

The Carol Years

The Ira Years

The Suited For Success/SuitAbility Years

The Declining Years

The Redecorating Years

The Entrepreneurial Years

The “First Step” Years 

SINCE NONE OF THIS IS YET WRITTEN, IT IS NOT CARVED IN STONE; SOURCED ONLY IN THE ERRATIC RECOLLECTIONS OF MY MIND.

 For now I shall restrict myself to the present. 

I WILL TELL MY TRUTH, AS BEST I RECALL IT.

THE ESSENCE IS ACCURATE. THE REST IS IRRELEVANT. 

SO I AM LEAVING THIS PLACE I CALLED HOME FOR MOST OF MY LIFE FOR AN AS YET UNKNOWN DESTINATION. IT IS AN ADVENTURE FILLED WITH UNCERTAINTY AND APPREHENSION.

ANTICIPATION SPICED WITH A BIT OF FEAR. 

 Now that I have accepted the inevitability of such drastic change, I recall that moving to a new residence ranks – stress-wise – up there with death of a loved one, divorce, serious illness and other perceived losses in life.

 My preference is to regard this process as fraught with opportunity. I shall focus as much as possible on this window of opportunity through which I leave the past behind, taking with me only that which I wish to live with at the moment, space permitting. Much I shall sell or give away. It is time for a new mood, a fresh palette, remembering a brief motto I wrote.

 THINK NEWLY. THINK CLEARLY. THINK TRULY.

 Also the sage advice of William Morris;

 “HAVE NOTHING IN YOUR HOUSES THAT YOU DO NOT KNOW TO BE USEFUL OR BELIEVE TO BE BEAUTIFUL.”

In this wayI shall literally move into my future, knowing that when Elizabeth departs the throne, she will leave her crown and BuckinghamPalace to a new generation, (Weep not for Liz – the Halls of Heaven hold far more value!)

DIVINITY MUST DESTROY IN ORDER TO RE-CREATE. THE SYMBOL WHICH I SHALL ADOPT AS MY NEW LOGO IS THAT MOST MAGNIIFICENT OF CREATURES, THE PHOENIX, WHICH RITUALLY BURNS ITSELF TO ASHES; THEN EMERGES GLORIOUSLY AS A SYMBOL OF REBIRTH.

“BEHOLD, I MAKE ALL THINGS NEW.”
REVELATION  21:5