A tale of two cities: my home his home

A neighbor and me, 30th and Dauphin Sts., Strawberry Mansion, 

Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA, circa 1953

Martijn dressed for Carnival, circa 1955, Maastricht, 

the Netherlands, Europe

Here I am back in Maastricht my home for almost eight years. I flew directly from Philadelphia, my home for 38 years, via Amsterdam. Philadelphia where I was born and raised and where I spent the last 10 weeks to Maastricht, where Martijn was born and raised, where I will spend the next 7 weeks. Historic cities, these. Philadelphia - America’s Cradle of Liberty, birthplace of the United States of America; Maastricht, where the treaty of Maastricht signaled the birth of the modern European Union. Brick houses and cobblestone streets give way to lush country sides. Parallels abound.

My spring and summer mirror my childhood and recent adulthood, bookended by these two places. Four years after the death of my beloved husband, my soulmate, I journey now to fully tie the ends, to honor and integrate the past in order to wear the present and welcome the future. 

Schuykill River Sunset

Maas River Sunset

Even Philadelphia’s scenic western river, the Schuykill has a Dutch name. At certain spots and perspectives the Schuykill and the Maas evoke each other. 

Obviously, the linkages are for me more personal than actual. I have intentionally chosen to make this bi-seasonal journey one of transition and integration, ultimately to incorporate and transcend the tragedy of losing Martijn too soon. 

My spring in Philadelphia was connective and restorative. The meshwork of friendships and family there enveloped my soul; the sights and sounds enlivened and entertained me endlessly, as I etched my trails across the city of my birth, reclaiming the “I-hood” of my unique upbringing and experiences there. Of course, having lived and loved with Martijn, the I has forever become a “We”, as I am now a soul that has been intertwined by love so deep and so resounding that I am forever transformed. 

And so it was that the part of Martijn that lives on in me, his forever beloved, also came to Philadelphia, the city where he had hoped to live with me as I lived with him, here in Maastricht. And now I touch the soil of his hometown as one who is and will ever be a “We.” I am here to connect and restore. And along the way, I will show you glimpses of the faces and places of this, my other home.

Return of the Native: Philadelphia redux

2601 Pennsylvania Avenue, my Philly Spring 2012 residence

Springtime in Philly

In late April I arrived for a ten week hiatus back in my hometown, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, USA. I moved away in November of 1988, making my home in Minneapolis, Minnesota for almost 16 years, then on to Maastricht, the Netherlands for another eight. Not exactly a gypsy - rather an urban pioneer wishing to experience life and culture, friendship and career in a wide world.

The past 14 years were spent with my soulmate and fellow sojourner, my beloved late husband, Dutch citizen, keen philosopher, and kind human being, Martinus Anna Antonius Hermse, aka Martijn [MAR-tine], or simply Frog to me. The truth is home was wherever we were together. Creating coziness and welcome for friends, family and colleagues was our second nature. Although Martijn did not like being uprooted he was a unique and flexible fellow traveler, so once we changed locations and built our new nest, he happily readjusted and moved into the future. He was a man of the present moment, never steeped in nostalgia in spite of maintaining long term, solid relationships - we were birds of feather in that respect.

Philadelphia Museum of Art, Van Gogh exhibit final days, early May 2012

Serendipity Abounds

Welcoming me to my new abode was the final weekend of the Van Gogh exhibit at one of my favorite Philadelphia landmarks, the Museum of Art (PMA) which sits directly across the street from my temporary address here! An even happier coincidence  was that my long time friends, David Meyers and wife Roberta Strickler, were scheduled to see the exhibit just after my move in. Karma prevailed, I scored a ticket for their precise time slot, and my Philadelphia launch was encircled with friendship and culture!

 Exiting the Van Gogh exhibit at the rear entrance we are greeted by a Monet moment compliments of PMA’s extraordinary landscaping

 Old friends new friends as I get the bonus of meeting Jeff and Joyce, Roberta and David’s Baltimore friends

Here we are posing before the gates of my friend, Isaiah Zagar’s iconic Philadelphia’s Magic Gardens at 10th & South Streets. Zagar’s mosaic’s dot every nook and cranny of Philly shedding light in the midst of blight.

The five of us ventured from the Art Museum area, aka, Fairmount, to my former stomping grounds, South Street, where I proudly showed off this Temple of Madcap Mosaic, an outsider artist's mecca. 

Reflections

I’ve returned home not simply to visit but to ‘try Philly on’. I began this post testifying that I’ve been an urban pioneer, living deeply in three main cities: Philadelphia, Minneapolis and Maastricht. Now I’ve secured a quiet spot by the sea in South Florida, my Casita Susita in Pompano Beach, a respite from the jarring urban centers. 

However, I am and remain unsettled. Without my soulmate I find I need the larger canvas of metropolis in order to find the social and cultural stimulation that feeds my soul. My home by the sea would suffice if I had more engagement, a broader spectrum of life.

So, I’m here exploring options. I joined a top-notch fitness center and occasionally workout with trainers and yoga instructors and well as simply enjoying the hubbub of the diverse clientele and services like massage, sauna, whirlpool and pool! I walk everywhere with purpose, unlike Pompano where my walk is focused exercise. Here my errands are exercise. My car is spending the spring and summer with no exercise, by the way, resting back in Florida. Here I joined Philly Car Share but have yet to use it, finding my feet are far better and cheaper for city reconnoitering.

Boat House Row

I was fortunate to find a spacious studio to sublet in this Fairmount neighborhood. The middle of Center City Philly is literally 1.5 miles from my door here at 2601 Pennsylvania Avenue, a grand dam of a building designed in 1926 for Philadelphia’s ‘elegatti’. The building has seen her days, but I’m regaling being in this neighborhood I never explored. The building overlooks Fairmount Park, PMA, as I’ve mentioned, the mighty, muddy Schuylkill River (given the Dutch name by its European discovered, Arendt Corssen) with her at times ferocious falls and always elegant Boat House Row. Within 20 minutes walk there is all the best that Philly has to offer from actual woods to world class art to five star dining. 

I’m putting on my Philly lens to bring you along to my hometown. I hope you enjoy the journey over the next entries in the blogsphere. 

Remembering Mickey Specter Farley

Susan, Bobby Rydell, Mickey Specter

Scioli’s Nightclub, November 1964

Mickey’s 15th birthday

Remembering Mickey Specter Farley

(on her birthday)

by Susan Schaefer

Pint sized pal

First friend

You scooped me up

into your heart

While movers heaved

Daddy’s Jacobean dining room set

Up concrete steps

Into my new life -

Strawberry Mansion to

7726 Gilbert Street, Mt. Airy

Philadelphia Gothic to marvelously modern.

You stood only to my chin

Even at age seven,

But you ‘played’ like a giant

Your stature reflecting

The size of your heart.

Yup, we called you Mickey Mouse

And you spelled your name

M-I-C-K-E-Y, not the Miki

You adopted post-Japan.

And that sultry summer day in 1957

You took me into

Your Mighty Mickey giant heart

And never let me go.

First best friend

Magical Mickey

Your steadfast love

Transformed me from

Only child to sister.

I remember you

and rejoice.

November 19, 2011