Hello Readers, and Happy Friday! We’ve been so blessed by getting to know you all. We love sharing our thoughts with you and are excited to note that today marks our 100th post on the blog. In honor of the occasion, we decided to take a break from serious discussion and write a just-for-fun post about our recent trip to New York City.

On the drive to New York, we had a great conversation about how we don’t see our relationship as being principally romantic. We conceive of our relationship more as an absolute commitment to sharing life together through thick and thin. Both of us can’t wait to spend time just being in each other’s presence, but those times of togetherness have been few and far between during the last several months. Lindsey has been between jobs, so we’ve both been working as many hours as we can muster in order to make sure all our needs are met. Part of the reason we try to write so faithfully on this blog is that it’s one of the most meaningful ways we’ve found for spending quality time together during this incredibly stressful season.  We hadn’t been making any travel plans for the foreseeable future, but like most things we’ve experienced together, the logistics of this trip fell into place organically. Through a series of unlikely events, we had received some AirBnB travel credit on the same day as Lindsey recovered an email from the spam folder announcing that one of our all-time favorite musicals, Matilda, was on spring pricing.

Taking a vacation to recover feelings of connectedness, no matter how a couple understands their relationship, can be tricky. We’ve learned that establishing connection involves creating space for the other simply to be. Travelers to any city can easily lose time to relax and reconnect because they are busy trying to take in all of the sights. We deliberately scheduled ourselves such that the only place we had to be at a certain time was the theater, and the rest of the time was free. Since we had seen the show on Broadway once before, we had a reasonably good handle on what kinds of things we might consider doing while still managing to get to the show on time.

One reason we find so much joy in cultivating a shared way of life is that our natural ways of relating to one another mesh quite well. Sometimes without even noticing, within the same activity we manage to meet both Sarah’s need for unpredictability and Lindsey’s need for downtime off the beaten path. We’re able to be spontaneous and sometimes happen upon places and experiences that others might overlook, all while seeking a space where peace and quiet oddly coexists with the chaotic. On the way to an ice cream shop, we got derailed by what we think are the world’s best cookies at the Cookie Jar, a small business tucked away on Staten Island. We were delighted to discover that the cookies were both inexpensive and scrumptious. The raspberry hazelnut thumbprints, cannoli creams, and chocolate chip pecans were some of our favorites. It’s a good thing this store ships cookies because we’re not sure we can wait until our next New York trip to enjoy some again. Somehow, spending our Saturday afternoon relaxing on Staten Island was exactly what both of us needed.

Various antique cookie jars sit in cubbies along one wall of the Cookie Jar

Unsure of how many delays we might experience along our trek back into Manhattan, we said goodbye to the Cookie Jar and made our way back toward the ferry. Did we mention that the (free) Staten Island Ferry also serves as a great poor man’s/introvert’s Statue of Liberty tour?

A view of the Statue of Liberty from the Staten Island Ferry

As it turned out, we were able to make our way to the Shubert Theater far more lackadaisically than expected. Arriving at the theater with nearly perfect timing felt like the Holy Grail of visits to New York City: we had to wait only 10 minutes before people began taking their seats. Once the show began, we were soon enchanted by Gabriella Pizzolo’s outstanding performance in the show’s titular role.

Holding our Playbills in front of the Matilda stage

To give you a taste of the American iteration of Matilda, check out this medley from the Tony Awards that features “Naughty,” “Revolting Children,” and “When I Grow Up.”

… and just because Lindsey loves to share all things Matilda, here’s a fuller version of “When I Grow Up” performed by the London cast:

Upon leaving New York the next day, we took our time driving home. The long drive offered ample opportunities for us to critique the Americanizations of the show (which were even more pronounced than the first time we saw it) and to share stories with one another. This weekend was the first opportunity we’d had in months (well, at least outside of blogging) to engage each other in meaningful discussion. Being able to spend some time talking just with each other was reinvigorating. This time helped us to feel even more deeply connected not only to each other, but also to the broader dialogue we are privileged to hold with all of you. Today as our little blog grows up to its 100th post, we are especially hopeful that A Queer Calling will continue to be a place of safe, productive, and fun interactions.

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