East coast update

So major setback in my east coast plans. Basically, the night before I was to leave for Toronto, I had a major breakdown thinking that would be the last time I saw Buffy, our dog. It really bothered me and in between sobs and piercing headaches caused by the sobs, I decided I would go to the east coast a different time. I know it might sound stupid, since it's a dog, but it was more than just that. I felt guilty leaving her, but I also felt guilty leaving Devon to deal with it on his own. I ended up still going out to New York for the weekend since I had US Open tickets and great friends I really wanted to see, and although I'm sad I wasn't there for Buffy's last few days, I had a great time. I stayed with a great friend from Strasbourg who lives in Long Island, and later met up with two other friends from Strasbourg. It was the first time I'd seen them since Strasbourg - almost two years ago. It was fantastic, and they are great people. I was in New York for a few days, and while there I hung out in Central Park for a bit and then went to the American Museum of Natural History and saw a great planetarium show on cosmic collisions narrated by Robert Redford (that wasn't what made it interesting). Then Patricia showed me around the South Street and Financial District areas and treated me to a great Italian dinner off Wall Street. The next day I went to the US Open - by myself. It actually was really cool b/c I could just go wherever I wanted and saw some great matches. The only professional matches that day were the men's double final and the women's singles semifinals, but I also checked out some junior matches and even wheelchair matches! That's talent right there, being able to play tennis better than alot of people while in a wheelchair. That night Matt and Patricia and I went to a great pub in midtown for dinner and then to a little bar called Redemption for drinks. By the end of the night I was ready to fall over - not from drinks, but from utter heat exhaustion from the day.
On Saturday Patricia and I met Alana at Penn Station and walked down around NYU. In Washington Square Park we came across a group of volunteers performing reiki for free - a destressing kind of ritual. It's a little weird, but we figured, why not. Basically, they try to rid you of negative or stressed energy. It was pretty interesting. After that, we met up with Matt and took the subway up to Central Park and ate lunch at Cafe d'Alsace, a great Alsation restaurant, which only brought back more memories from our time in Strasbourg. That afternoon we caught the matinee of "The Drowsy Chaperone," a fantastically funny musical in Times Square. We got a few drinks after that and reminisced some more before I had to leave to catch my flight home. I really had a great time. And I realize now how I say "fantastic" and "great" way too much - I'll work on that.

That part of the weekend was great - the second part wasn't. My parents drove me to Monument after my flight arrived where D picked me up and took me back to his parents' house. I spent some time with Buffy before passing out (it WAS almost 4am New York time, after all). The next morning, we took her for a quick walk before the vet arrived. In a way, it was great, because we were able to put her down outside (instead of a bland vet's office) with D's whole family there. It was obvious how much we all cared for her, and the process was very peaceful. After helplessly watching my dog die on his own 6 or 7 years ago, this was a beautiful way to go. It was still very sad and it's still very weird not to have her around. Maybe I should have written about this first because now I'm ending on a sad note. But whatever, I still miss Buffy.