On 9/11 2001, I walked up 7th Avenue from the Village to the Upper West Side in a sea of people covered in gray dust. Some bled, some wept, but silently. Everything was strangely silent save for the wails of sirens and trudging of feet. People who did not know one another helped each other up the avenue. A beautiful man in a pink tutu now covered in gray holding steady the arm of a serious looking business man in broken glasses and a tattered suit. Police officers and Fire Fighters running bravely in the other direction towards the chaos. I was in the city with my then 6 month old baby, his father and my parents. When we saw the second plane hit on the television, my mother rushed to get to the scene. They were asking for any nurses or doctors to come downtown and as my mom was a nurse and I was the only one in the group who knew the neighborhood well we ran to the west side highway. We caught a ride on an ambulance to St Vincent’s Hospital, a few blocks from the bar I worked at a few years before and right near the fire station of my buddies at Engine 24, Ladder 5 who I bartended with. (I love you guys and your beautiful families if you are reading this) I will never forget their sacrifice. My sweet mother waited for two days for a mass of survivors who never came. She will not forget. And I will not forget walking up that avenue, breasts heavy with milk, trying desperately to get back to my boy, terrified another tragedy would happen at any minute. But what I remember most from that day and the weeks that followed was the deep goodness and humanity of people from all over the world. The folks who lined up on the West Side Highway cheering on the emergency workers and handing out fresh baked cookies. The news showing crowds from the UK to the Ukraine mourning with us and rooting for us. Heck, I even loved Mayor Giuliani and Bush for their steady leadership and compassion in those first weeks. We didn’t care for a minute who was a Republican or Democrat or who believed in what god or what law. There was love everywhere in the face of horrible destruction. Let’s not forget THAT. For a tiny moment – Love won in the world. 🙏❤️🙏❤️📸 @gulnara_nyc
Merci @dior and the genius @mariagraziachiuri for having us to your show and letting us play dress up in your glorious clothes. #blessed #grateful @dominiquecrenn Thank You for the lovely photos 📸 @denisguignebourgphotographer @bestimage_agency
Merci @dior and the genius @mariagraziachiuri for having us to your show and letting us play dress up in your glorious clothes. #blessed #grateful @dominiquecrenn Thank You for the lovely photos 📸 @denisguignebourgphotographer @bestimage_agency
Merci @dior and the genius @mariagraziachiuri for having us to your show and letting us play dress up in your glorious clothes. #blessed #grateful @dominiquecrenn Thank You for the lovely photos 📸 @denisguignebourgphotographer @bestimage_agency
Merci @dior and the genius @mariagraziachiuri for having us to your show and letting us play dress up in your glorious clothes. #blessed #grateful @dominiquecrenn Thank You for the lovely photos 📸 @denisguignebourgphotographer @bestimage_agency
Merci @dior and the genius @mariagraziachiuri for having us to your show and letting us play dress up in your glorious clothes. #blessed #grateful @dominiquecrenn Thank You for the lovely photos 📸 @denisguignebourgphotographer @bestimage_agency
Merci @dior and the genius @mariagraziachiuri for having us to your show and letting us play dress up in your glorious clothes. #blessed #grateful @dominiquecrenn Thank You for the lovely photos 📸 @denisguignebourgphotographer @bestimage_agency
Safari as a way of life…. @jibekb @lucygakiichodota @sophiekinyua @dominiquecrenn #kenyatribe @team23rhinocharge ❤️❤️❤️
Thank you for all of our friends who came together to celebrate Icon @dominiquecrenn !!! Especially @yannickalleno and the staff at @lepavillonledoyen Merci. And Merci to @chateauthuerry , @moetchandon and @domainedeterrebrune Truly grateful to love such a force of nature and eat her divine food @atelier.crenn ❤️🙏
Thank you for all of our friends who came together to celebrate Icon @dominiquecrenn !!! Especially @yannickalleno and the staff at @lepavillonledoyen Merci. And Merci to @chateauthuerry , @moetchandon and @domainedeterrebrune Truly grateful to love such a force of nature and eat her divine food @atelier.crenn ❤️🙏
Thank you for all of our friends who came together to celebrate Icon @dominiquecrenn !!! Especially @yannickalleno and the staff at @lepavillonledoyen Merci. And Merci to @chateauthuerry , @moetchandon and @domainedeterrebrune Truly grateful to love such a force of nature and eat her divine food @atelier.crenn ❤️🙏
Thank you for all of our friends who came together to celebrate Icon @dominiquecrenn !!! Especially @yannickalleno and the staff at @lepavillonledoyen Merci. And Merci to @chateauthuerry , @moetchandon and @domainedeterrebrune Truly grateful to love such a force of nature and eat her divine food @atelier.crenn ❤️🙏
National Sons Day is everyday for me. I carry you in my heart everyday most precious, alive, kind, hilarious young man. Merci for choosing me to be your Mama. ❤️❤️❤️
My baby daddy is the bomb. Thank the dear lord he is steady and funny and kind and organized. Whoever you love, however you love them – love is love. Merci Dan McDermott. Happy Fathers Day. ❤️ #bestdadever
It is truly heartbreaking to see the rights of women and girls in Afghanistan being stripped away once again. Please continue to support the brave women activists of the country. These organizations have been working there for many years and will continue to make an impact. @vitalvoices @womenforwomen 🙏
Home is good. Peonies only come once a year between mid May and end of June. $8.99 for 5 stems @traderjoes Flowers always make things better.
I am so proud to have played a small part in this magical film! @thewatermanmovie is a film you want to take your whole family to. In theaters now! Merci @davidoyelowo @oprah @rosariodawson @lonniechavis
To the extraordinary team @atelier.crenn – Congratulations on being named one of the greatest restaurants in the world @theworlds50best Your hard work, dedication and artistry is inspiring. And to team leader Chef Crenn @dominiquecrenn you are forever moving the marker of what it means to truly be a genius. Not just based on your exquisite dishes, but how you treat others, our planet and what you value. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
To the extraordinary team @atelier.crenn – Congratulations on being named one of the greatest restaurants in the world @theworlds50best Your hard work, dedication and artistry is inspiring. And to team leader Chef Crenn @dominiquecrenn you are forever moving the marker of what it means to truly be a genius. Not just based on your exquisite dishes, but how you treat others, our planet and what you value. ❤️❤️❤️❤️
This is not Haiti. It’s Texas. As a friend of Haiti for many years I have seen first hand the hardship and resilience of its people. We all want a better life for our children and would do anything to feed them. I understand that the humanitarian crisis at the border is very complicated. Yet all people deserve to be treated with respect. So how can we help? Please support @wckitchen to feed our neighbors and to give them the dignity that they deserve. And the Haitian Bridge Alliance @haitianbridge who are working towards a solution to this painful crisis. Mwen pa p janm sispann remen ou. (I will never stop loving you). 🙏❤️
I live my life in widening circles that reach out across the world. I may not complete this last one but I give myself to it. I circle around God, around the primordial tower. I’ve been circling for thousands of years and I still don’t know: am I a falcon, a storm or a great song? That Instagram made me remove – Rainer Maria Rilke 📸 @amandademme
Now I SEE!!!
I’ve been fighting wearing glasses full time for a few years now. I started wearing my mothers drugstore reading glasses in 2017. Exactly when i reached 50. Like clockwork age and eyesight were catching up to me. I had 12 pairs of various sizes and colors in 2.5 all over the house but still managed to lose them. I was finally sick of all of the losing and decided to go get some contacts. During my pause I finally got tested and found out i was near sighted as well. And it turns out I can’t wear contacts as I have a stygmatism. I couldn’t even get the operation to help me see because of that as well. So that would mean I was stuck wearing glasses for the rest of my life. All of the time. There was no way I could see my phone or read a menu without them. I had to accept that i would be probably be wearing them fo the whole second half of my life. But i didn’t want to look like my grandmother. And so I went to our local Parisienne eyeglass store @cyrilantonyopticien and he kindly helped me find mySELF in the glasses. In the second half, many of us will experience diminished eyesight. But we are not our parents generation and we don’t need to wear glasses that make us feel frumpy. There are quite a few companies out there who are making “hip” glasses for our generation. I found the shape and style that feels good for me right now. Have you found your chic second half of life glasses?
My library is filled with books about women you may not even have heard about. Perhaps that is because 76% of history books are written by men and less than 10 percent of those men write about women. I am particularly drawn to historical fiction where I learn history through the eyes of a female protagonist. That is why I stayed up for 18 hours reading @kristinhannahauthor book The Women. The novel celebrates the brave nurses who served in Vietnam both during wartime and in its aftermath back in the USA. I was torn apart and then inspired by Frankie’s journey from the frontlines with her sisters back to a country that never knew these wounded healers existed. Because of The Women, now we will know them and their selfless bravery. Thank you @kristinhannahauthor . The magnificent book left me in a puddle and blew my head and heart wide open. Merci @stmartinspress and please always buy from independent bookshops. @harrietts_bookshop
This wild photo was taken at the Sarah Bernhardt exhibit at the Petit Palais exhibition in Paris last year towards the end of my Pause. The interactive part was getting photographed surrounded by the actress and artist’s hair and hands. For some reason I like this picture. It shows me what I might look like as I age but certainly I will have more wrinkles. My dear friend who is in his 80’s said something once I will never forget. He asked himself how did he want to be remembered? Just as a successful business man that he continues to be or something more? He decided he wanted to also be known for who he was and the many people he touched with his humor and joy. So in the second half of his life he hired a publicist to work backwards and make sure he would be remembered for the friend and original, magical, beautiful human that he is. When I see this photo of me, I asked in my Pause, how do I want to be remembered? As an actress like Sarah? As a writer who’s words become legacy? Or maybe the creator of salons to support brilliant artists? Maybe all of these. Certainly a good mother, friend and truth teller. The pause made me consider this. I still don’t know the answer. How do you want to be remembered?
