Sunday, my wife and I introduced a Connecticut friend to the main branch of the New York Public Library on Fifth Avenue. Of course, one must see the Rose Main Reading Room on the third room and admire the incredible architecture. And being a true library nerd, I started walking around the collection randomly pulling out bound periodicals and encyclopedias and whatever. Alone I could spend hours seeing what surprises I could discovered.
Intrigued by its title, I started flipping through Encyclopedia of Dates & Events and the following post card stumbled out. I first assumed that it was a bookmark but discovered otherwise.
It’s July 3, 2025. Malu [?] is writing goodbye letters, and now it’s time to write one for the city that I’m leaving in a few days. I’m leaving this here as a memento before I move back home, and eventually Rome. Now I have something to always come back to, although I don’t think it would take much convincing to bring me back to New York. … I hope to come back for this when I make this city my home again. If you find this and you are not me, please leave it here, I’m hoping it will help me find my way back home. I love you New York, te amo un muno, gracias pur toda la magia y todas las memorias. See you soon. Love y Amor, Malu.
A truly international person, speaks English and Spanish and writes about heading back to Rome, Italy. Many people – me included – hope to live in New York City at least once in their adult lives, and Malu actually did so and hopes/plans to come back. I’m sure he did.
I reinserted the postcard before returning the book back to its proper location and moved on. Very sweet.7
