During Superstorm Sandy we did not evacuate. We were inland, in the suburbs. At around 11pm, we lost all electricity. At around midnight we heard a large tree crash. We just hoped it wasn’t on the house. The wind was fierce. It’s howl even fiercer. We survived that night. The tree literally missed our house by an inch. We felt quite lucky.

We had no electricity. No one around us did. Yet, we were lucky. Although, we told ourselves never again would we stay put in the face of such a huge storm even if there wasn’t an evacuation order. No one thought the suburbs that far out would get hit in such a way. After two cold days with no lights, we packed up some clothes and went in search of a hotel. For eight days we had to keep switching hotels until we ended up in a hotel near my job in Manhattan. It was a double room but was the size of someone’s nice closet. Despite that, my son and dog managed to play hide and seek all the while my son giggled.

Till this day I smile about that situation. First, my son can find the humor in most things just like I do. I am quite proud of that. I am thrilled by it. Second, New York rooms are crazy small and you just have to roll with it. You somehow figure out how to play hide and seek in a 50 square foot room.

Fast forward to this week. Over the past week, I have searched high and lo in my New York apartment for three Christmas gifts I had bought the day after Thanksgiving. I wanted to make sure I kept it in a place I could readily find them. The apartment is New York sized. There aren’t many places where I could have kept the gifts. Nonetheless, I manage to not find them for over a week. I searched my tiny closets. I searched an ottoman. I searched under the bed. I searched my backpacks. I had no luck.

I was near giving up, when I decided to look in a small cabinet right next to the stove. It’s very small. Super small. Yet there they were. I think that was the third time overall I had ever opened that cabinet. I was thrilled to have found it. It’s amazing how more items can he misplaced in a tiny New York apartment versus a large house anywhere. Because you have to be creative with your space, things end up in very random spots. It sure does keep things interesting.