driving Mrs. Kennedy (or another night, another skipped workout)

well, almost.
last night Thurston and i joined my family (sans the California sister) at the Riverkeeper annual dinner--a benefit to keep the Hudson River made of water rather than poison--at Pier Sixty at Chelsea Piers.


at the benefit, Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. (who's on the Board of Directors) spoke and due to his presence there, his mom, Ethel Kennedy was also in attendance.

the evening, emceed by Darrell Hammond (hysterical!) and featuring a performance by Carly Simon and her kids--Sally and Ben Taylor (sans their father James), ended at about 11:00 p.m.
at that point one of the event planners asked my dad if he'd driven to the benefit. he had and was planning on driving back to the Upper East, after dropping me, T, my brother and his lady back at our apartment building* downtown. the event planner asked my dad if he had room for Mrs. Kennedy, who needed a ride to UES and he promptly answered "of course," children be damned!

we then hung out for a bit while my dad waited for his fare. i made him promise me he'd treat the car ride as a very Driving Miss Daisy experience, with my dad in the Morgan Freeman role and speaking only when spoken to. (i really thought that if my dad behaved, somehow my family would be weekending in Hyannis Port and the Vineyard in no time at all. i live a delusional life, what can i say...)

in any event, Mrs. Kennedy found another ride uptown and my parents were back to carpooling the riff-raff, viz., their own kids. such a shame!

although our car was light on American royalty, the gift bags were heavy on the Kiehl's products. (yay!) and also included a Carly SImon cd. and also, to top off the evening, Carly sang Let the River Run, which is easily in my top ten songs ever. and she did it as a sing-along. love love love that one. and not just for its association with Tess McGill's triumph.

here are the empowering lyrics that i belt out with all my might on an almost daily basis. even when such singing is not at Carly's behest. (yeah, i'm supercool. you know it!)

We're coming to the edge,
running on the water,
coming through the fog,
your sons and daughters.

Let the river run,
let all the dreamers
wake the nation.
Come, the New Jerusalem.

Silver cities rise,
the morning lights
the streets that meet them,
and sirens call them on
with a song.

It's asking for the taking.
Trembling, shaking.
Oh, my heart is aching,

We're coming to the edge,
running on the water,
coming through the fog,
your sons and daughters.

We the great and small,
stand on a star
and blaze a trail of desire
through the dark'ning dawn.

It's asking for the taking.

Come run with me now,
the sky is the color of blue
you've never even seen
in the eyes of your lover.

Oh, my heart is aching.

We're coming to the edge,
running on the water,
coming through the fog,
your sons and daughters.

It's asking for the taking.
Trembling, shaking.
Oh, my heart is aching.

We're coming to the edge,
running on the water,
coming through the fog,
your sons and daughters.

Let the river run,
let all the dreamers
wake the nation.
Come, the New Jerusalem.

---

* yes, i live in the same building as my little brother and his girlfriend. same apartment layout and everything. very convenient when it comes to borrowing sugar and DVDs.