NY, NY, Big City of Dreams

I've been on these interwebs a long time, I've received every joke, chain email, virus warning and everything else gets spread around these parts. They almost always go in the trash, sometimes I read them just to see how stupid they are. After 9/11 there were a bunch of NY related things going around, I read all of those. Being a New Yorker is something that is never taken for granted. I can live in Los Angeles for the rest of my life but I will ALWAYS be a NYer, that's a fact. Earlier this week my dad (Hi BP!!) sent this email to me, I'm sure I must have seen it a thousand times but I read it all and laughed and cried like I had never see it before. I'm posting it here not only because I love it but because it's all true:

THERE'S NO PLACE LIKE HOME!!!

I am a New Yorker
I live in the five boroughs or on the Island or Upstate
I may live hundreds or thousands of miles away
Or I may live just over the GW Bridge
But I am a New Yorker

I am a New Yorker
Whatever took me out of New York:
Business, family or hating the cold
did not take New York out of me.
My accent may have faded and my pace may have slowed
But I am a New Yorker

I am a New Yorker
I was raised on Macy's Thanksgiving Day Parade and Rockefeller Plaza,
The Yankees or the Mets (Giants or Dodgers)
Jones Beach, Rye Beach, Orchard Beach or one of the beaches on the sound
I know that 'THE END' means Montauk.
Because I am a New Yorker

I am a New Yorker
When I go on vacation, I never look up
Sky scrapers are something I take for granted
The Empire State Building and the Statue of Liberty are part of me
Taxis and noise and subways and 'get outta heah' don't rattle me
Because I am a New Yorker

I am a New Yorker
I was raised on cultural diversity before it was politically correct
I eat Greek food and Italian food,
Jewish and Middle Eastern food and Chinese food
Because they are all American food to me.
I don't get mad when people speak other languages in my presence
Because my relatives got to this country via Ellis Island and chose to stay
They were New Yorkers

People who have never been to New York have misunderstood me
My friends and family work in the industries, professions and businesses that benefit all Americans
My firefighters died trying to save New Yorkers and non-New Yorkers
They died trying to save Americans and non-Americans
Because they were New Yorkers.

I am a New Yorker
I feel the pain of my fellow New Yorkers
I mourn the loss of my beautiful city
I feel and dread that New York will never be the same But then I remember:
I am a New Yorker

And New Yorkers have:
Tenacity, strength and courage way above the norm. Compassion and caring for our fellow citizens. Love and pride in our city, in our state, in our country. Intelligence, experience and education par excellence. Ability, dedication and energy above and beyond Faith--no matter what religion we practice. Terrorists hit America in its heart but America 's heart still beats strong. Demolish the steel in our buildings, but it doesn't touch the steel in our souls. Hit us in the pocketbook but we'll parlay what we have left into a fortune. End innocent lives leaving widows and orphans, but we'll take care of them because they are New Yorkers

Wherever we live, whatever we do, whoever we are, there are New Yorkers in every state and every city of this nation.
We will not abandon our city.
We will not abandon our brothers and sisters
We will not abandon the beauty, creativity and diversity
that New York represents.
We are New Yorkers
and we are proud to be New Yorkers.

REMEMBER THE WTC
Author - Vincent Pasquale, Maspeth, NY
Thank you Vincent for allowing us to share this with our fellow New Yorkers all around the world.