Today John Gallagher and I had a date, set months ago, for lunch. We met at a little place called The Savoy at the corner of Prince and Crosby, two blocks north of Broome Street. We wore our Heath stripes, and I brought along two red roses.
After lunch, we strolled slowly down to Heath's old apartment building, wondering whether there would be any other flowers left there for him today. John thought not, but I wasn't surprised to see several bouquets leaning beside the door with accompanying letters and mementos.
What did surprise me was that there were cameramen there! Except this year, instead of an army of anchorpersons, miles of cable and a forest of tripods there was one cameraman and one pretty blonde woman looking on curiously as I added our two BetterMost roses to the little shrine. A couple of other men with cameras were clicking away at more of a distance, but I never found out who they were.
As John was taking his own pictures, the woman approached me and asked if I'd tell her why we were here. As soon as she heard we were from a fan site, she asked if I would go on camera for a brief interview, and I agreed. Her name was Ronnie, and she and her colleague work for Channel Seven in Sydney! They were very down-to-earth and friendly, also sympathetic, so as I talked, I'm afraid I got a bit verklempt. But she was very interested to hear we'd met each other through knowing Heath. I mentioned BetterMost and our trips to Alberta and Wyoming. I said we thought of Heath as a good friend, and how bittersweet it was that he'd been nominated just this morning (that's when my voice got all weird on me). We shook hands and parted, and John told the Aussies how to find an Aussie coffee shop where we were heading for our coffee and dessert. Ronnie told me to check seven.com.au to see if their interviews get aired.
We walked up to Houston Street, then headed east to Second Avenue, then to First Street, where we found the tiny eatery called the Tuck Shop. John is amazing. He knows all these great little places! We had delicious, rich Australian lattes and awesome, awesome bread and butter pudding and "vanilla slice," which is like a Napolean without the chocolate drizzle. We managed to "tuck" away both plates quite handily. John then walked me up to 14th Street, where I got the subway.
Later tonight John will post lots of pictures, so stay tuned.
This day could have been so much heavier and more sad without my BetterMost family. I'm blessed to have met John and everyone here. It took the sting away somehow, and I didn't even notice that we were at 421 at just about the time all those awful events were unfolding a year ago. Thanks so, so much, buds.
Meryl
