Bon Voyage!

The time had come for my family to pack all our belongs from Apartment 1A and travel across the blue expanse my father traced with his finger across our Atlas. Thoughts of Magellan slipping over the horizon became my own. Home was a fearful new place with friends I hoped to have. My mother soothed my worrying with dressmaker visits and a Bon Voyage outfit to match her own.

My cute little brother in his short pants and jacket kept a secret from everyone he greeted as we crossed the gangplank onto the deck of the USS Constitution. Bupsy his pet turtle was nestled in the bottom of my mother's purse, a lettuce leaf to keep him quiet.

Our days were filled with activities, our evenings with glamor. My mother in her long white gloves, my father in his uniform so tall and handsome. Bupsy between the sheets of my brothers berth. New York Harbor just ahead, Lady Liberty welcoming us from just beyond the rail. Streamers trailing into the water, cheers that said this was the best Place to Be. American kids once again, adventures awaiting our arrival.