NEW YORK AND HOMEWARD BOUND
When we landed in New York all that I had was a few foreign
coins and one thin dime. It made me laugh out loud as the thought of the hit
rock song "On Broadway" came to mind, where the lyrics talk about
being on Broadway with only one thin dime. I could relate to that song and the
thought of being over three thousand miles from home did not even worry me. I
felt that with my luck I would get home and have an adventure in the process.
J.C. and I decided o hitch hike back to California together.
He had some second cousins by a marriage living in Chicago where we were going
to stop over to rest and clean up on our way back. Heck on the map we had it was
only a couple of inches from New York City so I saw that as no big deal.
The first night in New York was our main concern since it was
getting dark and we wanted to rest and get our selves organized for the trip
back home. We went over to this college campus and rang the bell for one of the
apartments in the international student housing area. We told them we had just
got back from Europe and were told to see them about a place to stay. We were
boldly not telling the truth and they knew it and told us we could stay anyway.
They feed us and let us spend the night. We spent most of the night telling them
about our trip and all the stuff that happened to us along the way.
The next day we began a series of hitched rides to Chicago.
We were doing okay until a man with a gun picked us up and took us for a longer
ride then we really wanted with him. He had the gun on the dashboard of his car.
He told us he had come up from Florida looking for his girl friend who ran off
with some guy.
He said he was going to kill the S.O.B. as soon as he found
him. We felt it necessary to try to calm him down and get him to change his
mind. After an hour ride, we realized the thing we could do was to get out of
his way ourselves.
The rest of the trip was quieter and we ended up getting a
ride right to the door steps of his relatives house just outside of Chicago.
They let us in and gave us a big welcome even given the fact
that they really did not know who in the hell we were. Finally they seemed to
realize who's kid J.C. was but had no idea who I was. They were both in their
sixty's or so and very Italian. They were also very religious to the point of
being almost crazy about it. The old man would talk about hell and sin and all
that old church stuff. He was a kind old guy however and we never did lack for
anything while we stayed there. They insisted on us staying with them for the
next three weeks.
They showed us all of the sights. They even took us to a
Cub's baseball game.
They could not understand how we traveled all over the world
by hitch hiking. They themselves had never been more than 50 miles from their
home. I thought that was odd until I talked to their neighbors and found that no
one else had been anywhere either. When we told them we had to leave they
invited all kinds of friends and neighbors over for a farewell party for us.
People wanted to hear about our trip. We must have talked for hours while they
listened to us.
While we were talking our hosts took up a collection from the
guests and went to the Greyhound Bus Station. They purchased us both tickets
home. They presented them to us at the close of the party. I was so thankful
that these strangers showed such concern and kindness toward me. Once again, I
thought about my own family not even knowing where I was nor caring.
When we got on the bus they gave us a large bag of sandwiches
to eat on the trip. When we ate them we laughed because they were all made from
left over pasta and sauce. I felt very Italian and lucky as we had plenty to eat
until we got to Reno.
J.C. was complaining about not having any food to eat when
the bag was empty. He was rather negative about our chances to get anything
before we completed the trip. I told him not to worry about it that my Guru
would take care of us. I was so confident that I told him to order some food at
the bus stop in Reno. He had no money nor did I so he did not order anything
from the menu. I went into the rest room and looked down on the floor and found
a ten dollar bill just waiting for me to come in and pick it up. I grabbed it
and walked back out to J.C. and asked him if he had ordered. He was told that he
had little faith as I produced the money and ordered us a very large breakfast.
He never understood what happened and was very silent the rest of the bus trip
home.
We got back to San Francisco and said good bye to each other
and my family took me back home. They were living in an apartment in Sunnyvale.
They had sold the house and was spending the money they had gotten from it for
living expenses. I told them my story of the trip but they were not really
interested in too many details so I made it brief.
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