Gumby's 21st & all alone in NYC

It was the night of Gumby's; aka Mathew's (# 4 of 8 children) 21st birthday party, and as I was unable to get time off work to come home, I was stuck in NYC attempting to join in on the party at 6am my time.

They had set up the big screen so Dad and me could Skype through our speeches. As it was so early in the morning in New York, I had asked my sisters to give me a wake-up call 15 minutes before the speeches were to begin; enough time to do my hair & throw on some make-up.

The wake-up call came, and I jumped out of bed and got myself ready for the big speech, which I must admit, I had not given any real thought to just yet. As I was staying at Matt's place, and was attempting not to wake him up, I decided to go out in the corridor for my Skype call. And just to be extra considerate of the paper thin walls of the apartment building, I walked down the stairs to the small foyer on the first level.

With my laptop in hand, and earphones in ear, I was not thinking straight when I walked out of the security door. As it locked behind me, I remembered I had left my keys in the apartment and was now locked out of the building.

It was 6am, I was wearing very minimal clothing for the below 10 degree weather outside, and the draft was coming in through the door. I didn't want to buzz myself in and wake Matt up, so I decided to wait it out in the hope someone would eventually come through the door and let me back in to the building. Besides, I had a Skype date to attend!

I slumped myself down against the wall, and propped my laptop up on my lap. Within seconds I received a phone call saying the Skype wasn't working properly, and they wouldn't be able to hear us talk. I was shattered!

They were able to set us up on a conference call between the party, Dad & myself so we could at least hear the speeches. This was probably the worst idea ever. About three minutes in to the first speech I burst in to tears. The first lot of tears to escape me in the five months since I had left home. And once the flood gates opened, they wouldn't shut close.

45 minutes later, a man walked out of his apartment to walk his dog, and there I was, still blubbering.

His dog pounced on my laptop, as I attempted to wipe away the tears. I held the door as he exited, and I crawled inside the building to continue my sobbing.

Dad could hear me crying the entire time.

It was a sad, sad morning. But oh so funny looking back and picturing myself blubbering the way I did in a foyer in NYC at 6am in the morning.

Memories forever!