Our Town: Familiar Faces in the Resistance Crowd

I went to the Hands Off rally in Brookdale Park at noon Saturday. We've lived in Montclair for 34 years, since we got the keys to a two-bedroom apartment on Bellevue Avenue--so I shouldn't have been surprised to see people I knew personally in the crowd of 5,000 (estimate). It was a comfort and a joy to be with:

1. Moey. Well, she was standing next to me for two hours plus. She and Ted lived in Montclair because Ted did his medical residency here. We followed them, moving to town. Moey drove up from Montvale to protest.

2. Karen. My baking, gardening gal, singing book group friend. (Book friends Kate and Jeanne and Kate's sister, Sal, were there, too, but I didn't see them.)

3, 4. Chip and Mary. Neighbors.

5. Anne. Neighbor and friend.

6. Caroline. The lovely, pretty woman who ran Cafè Giotto on Church Street for years. That little storybook hideaway with Italian food was perfectly perfect (still exists under different management).

7, 8, 9, 10. My forever neighbor across the street, Amy, with her husband, Chris, and their adult sons Luca and Fabio.

11, 12. Sianne and Yannika, from our kids' soccer days in the park.

13. Lisa, effervescent neighbor who lived four houses up the block.

14. Beth, known for her cute neighborhood dog, Carter, and her husband, Howard, who is in Dan's rock band.

15, 16. Holly and her husband. When Figgy was a baby and I walked along Valley Road to catch the bus to work in NYC, Holly was walking in the other direction on Valley with her two boys and puppy, Chanel, to wait for the school bus. One mom home-based and one mom working in the city, both friendly and supportive. Sleek black Chanel jumped up on my black stockings, and Holly would call her to get down, but I didn't care. (I think Holly is from Texas, and also think she called the stockings "nylons.") I treasured being part of a community with parents, kids and pets and I don't think the pup ever snagged my stockings anyway. I love that Holly and her family were witnesses to my weekday mornings, and vice versa.

I recognized other faces in the crowd but could not place them from exactly where and when our paths had crossed. 

May today bring moments of joy for us all.