Although I had been to New York many times on business, I had never really seen the city until I arrived in November, 1990, with my seven-year-old niece. She was assigned to be a special correspondent for the first-ever Barbie Summit, a worldwide conference sponsored by Mattel in New York. Although she was not an official delegate, she covered the events for her hometown newspaper (no blogs then!) and was able to participate in all the Barbie events.
For the first time, I saw this spectacular city through the eyes of a child. I wasn’t the usual harried traveler, always late for a meeting and not used to all the traffic and noise.
“The buildings are so tall.” “Is that the Statue of Liberty where Grandma and Grandpa found their names?” “How did those boats get in the middle of the city?” “Are we really staying at this giant hotel (the Waldorf-Astoria)?” “What’s a subway?” “I love room service.” She never stopped discovering landmarks, asking questions, or shrieking with excitement.
The most memorable experience, though, was putting my niece on the Barbie float in the Macy’s Thanksgiving Day Parade. That was part of the Barbie Summit, letting the little girls from all over the world be part of one of the most all-American experiences. The girls practiced waving, and soon morphed into stars when they started down the street and people were cheering and waving. I’ll never forget the look on my niece’s face as she looked in wonder back and forth between the crowds and her float-mates.
When the parade ended, she said, “I love New York. I don’t ever want to leave.”
After that, we returned to California. Nevertheless, she did go back for college and never left. As a result, I started going to New York for fun, not just for business.
