ILLUMINATING THE RICH AND VARIED LIFE OF NEW YORK CITY

 

 

 

Late Summer Scene: On the Street in Mott Haven

 

Gloria, who is confined to a wheelchair, spends most of her days people-watching from the corner of St. Ann’s Avenue and E. 141st Street in Mott Haven. She seems to know almost everyone who walks by. They often stop for a minute and ask her how is doing.

With each person that stops by to chat, she re-tells the same story—about her sister visiting next week. They haven’t seen each other since their brother’s funeral a couple of years ago.

Wearing a turquoise T-shirt and light green capris, she seems to eye everyone’s outfit as they walk by. Her health assistant stands right next to her, leaning against the church’s gate. She also makes conversation with passerby. Gloria asks each person how he or she is doing? Each time they answer, she talks about life being short and how you have to live it now or else it’ll be gone before they know it.

She seems to miss her brother deeply, and finds ways to speak about him, which brings her to a story of her sibling relationships. The three of them never got along but once her brother got sick, they took care of him until he passed away.

With a gentle touch of Gloria’s shoulder, the nurse asks if Gloria is okay or need s use the bathroom. This routine seemed to be common between the two. The sky is beginning to clear with some sun peeking through but the possibility of rain isn’t off the table. Gloria and her nurse began to make their way down St. Ann’s Ave, but not getting very far for all of the conversations Gloria has to stop for.

 

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