KRISTY:

"Stoneybrook is now officially a small city!" Mom told me over the phone that cool November evening as I drove home from work.

"YAAA! FANTASTIC!" I bellowed. "Wait until I tell the others!" It was election day, but not a presidential or a congressional election since it was an odd-numbered year. Once I clicked my phone closed, I re-opened it and dialed the others in the original BSC with the news.

"Sharon called and told me the good news!" Mary Anne crowed.

"Move over, Newark and Stamford!" Abby whooped when she got the news. Wow, I thought as I entered my neighborhood and drove up toward my house. The old town has evolved into a small city. I guess we should start calling it the old city now. Michelle and Liz were home when I got in and their friends, Mary Anne Kishner and Linda Barry were with them and all of them were engaged in a game of Pictionary. Mary Anne Kishner is Claudia's middle daughter and we call her Annie so we don't mix her up with Mary Anne Spiser. Linda is Liza Barry's daughter.

"Hiii, Mom!" Michelle called.

"Did you hear that Puerto Rico is picking out its first congress people?" Liz chimed in.

"Wow, I haven't..." I came into the family room. I knew Puerto Rico had been fighting for its independence from the States for a while now. "Hey, I have news also...Stoneybrook is now small city." I gave the four of them a small hug, then sat on the floor near them and pulled off my shoes. It's so good that business shoes are much more comfortable than they used to be. I'd never be caught dead in the high heels they used to sell.

"Wow..." "Hey, cool..."

"Shane called a few minutes ago," Michelle told me. "He should be home in about a half hour."

"Good, then how about we eat when he gets home."

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

MARY ANNE:

"Happy Birthday, Tam!" I crowed. Tam shuffled sleepily into the kitchen at ten-thirty on Sunday morning.

"Thnnnks..." she mumbled, leaning into me. I stroked her hair. She likes to sleep late on weekends like me.

"Happy birthday!" Alma chimed in. Tam gave her, then me a hug.

"Still feel like taking in the city today?" I asked. Tam nodded and rubbed her eyes, slowly coming awake. For the first hour or so when she gets up, she's usually half-asleep, walking around with half-closed eyes and slowly. Then the rest of the day she's awake and fine. Today we were going downtown and probably to the Statue of Liberty. We all love Ms. Liberty, especially since my great-great grandmother emigrated through there from Germany in the late 1890's.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

TAMARA:

We've been to the Statue of Liberty a number of times, but we never tire of visiting her. I love how she stands holding her torch and looking out toward Europe with such a serious expression, yet a warm look in her eyes. On the way, we passed the memorial of the first World Trade Center. It's a serious, quiet place and really beautiful. There are memorial trees and an eternal flame that former president Al Gore lit. I watched the flame ebb and flow with the chilly fall winds. Ellis Island was where we went first. It's always exciting to see Syraria Wegenstein's name on the wall with all the twenty million immigrants that came to the States and mostly made this country what it is today.

"Almost half of all Americans have ancestors that came through here," Mom told us as we admired the wall.

"Just imagine how scary it must have been for all of them coming into a strange country and not speak the language," Alma said softly.

"Yes, I'd have been frightened too," Mom whispered.

"Hey, here's our great-great grandpa too," I pointed. "Karl Bakersberg."

"That's where the name Baker comes from," Mom told us, referring to our great-grandma Verna Baker. She put an arm around each of us and peered closely at the names. All around us, other visitors flashed pictures and ran video cameras. We'd taken pictures of our own a long time ago. "And our other ancestors, the Spiers." It's mostly last names and there are a lot of Spiers there. Several, including ours, had seven members in their families. Our great-great aunts and uncles, I thought.

"And Dad's greats near the left," I pointed to the name Geiser.

"We're very lucky," I told Mom and Alma once we were back in the Liberty Ferry to the Statue. "All of our ancestors made it through Ellis Island. It makes me wonder where we'd be if they hadn't passed the inspection and made it across."

"It's scary to think about, especially since the Holocaust was less than fifty years later," Mom's eyes widened.

"Hiii, Ms. Libertyyyy!" Someone called. Some people laughed, including us. Ms. Liberty is very human-looking, so it's easy to personify her like a live being. It used to be that the only way you could get to the top of the crown was by over a hundred steps, but now they have a pulleyed elevator. We waited in line, but it wasn't a long one today, since only a few people can go up at a time. It's soo neat that you can see the inside of her skirt and all. It's amazing how they're able to keep it up. They've had to replace a few parts, but it's still very stable for a statue almost a hundred and fifty years old. By then time we got to the crown and back on the ferry, it was growing dark. As we sailed back to the mainland city, the statue lit for the night. The sight is always breathtaking. Mona and her daughter, Zara as well as my friend, Rhoda were going to meet us at That's Amore for dinner, then we'd head back home where I suspect Mom has a cake hidden somewhere. Happy fourteenth birthday, I told myself.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

STACEY:

It's so great that Stoneybrook is now a CITY! Several of us original BSC members were going back to the old town...city for Thanksgiving. It seemed as if Stoneybrook had GROWN since the vote. I'd been in touch with Ms. Silverbein. She'd be having her kids and grandkids over for the holiday, both Thanksgiving and Hanukkah. I'd be seeing Mom, while Mary Anne and Dawn were spending their Thanksgiving at Sharon's place. Kristy was also spending the holiday with her mom as well.

"Hi, Mom!" I called.

"Hiii, Grandma!" Syrie called and we all booked into each others' arms and hugged.

"Looks like we're back in the old city now," I quipped and Mom and Syrie laughed.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

That Friday after Thanksgiving, Dawn, Mary Anne, Kristy, and me got together in Mom's living room and caught up. Our kids alternated between Virtual Reality and Uno in the game room. I told them about Ms. Silverbein and how she was.

"By the spring, I should also hear about how my experiment worked out and whether my invention's patented," I finished.

"Well, good luck at it," Dawn commented.

"I'm about halfway through my book," Mary Anne added. "As well as made it through another first marking period with my students."

"KAT just bought another line of appliances this week," Kristy put in. "And the stocks on three of the brands of can-openers are soaring."

"Speaking of can-openers," Dawn put in. "What's the game plan for the winter holidays?" We've made tentative plans to have a big holiday get-together at Mary Anne's house this year in NewYork City.

"We all meet at my place as soon as we get the break from our work?" Mary Anne put in.

"Who wants to bring what?" Dawn asked. For the next few minutes, we planned and ironed out who would bring what dish. Mary Anne said she'd ee and call the others and work out details with them. Mary Anne said she'd take care of the chicken, which she could get pre-cooked roasted at Safeway. Thank the stars for pre-cooked food. I thought back how in the old days, it took HOURS to get a holiday meal together. Now with ultra-microwaves and microstoves as well as pre-cooked freeze-dried foods, cooking a whole meal maybe takes half hour at the most. Minor meals are a matter of minutes.

"Let's hear it for Hanukkah and Christmas!" Kristy crowed and we all clinked glasses and cups, laughing.