Wandering Union Square - A Holiday Market Moment

November 18, 2025

No new medical updates just yet; we’re in a bit of a holding pattern while some tests are completed. In the meantime, we’ve been keeping ourselves busy and I wanted to share one of the things we did this weekend.

On Sunday, Maria and I wandered into the Union Square Holiday Market the way you drift into a good memory, slowly, without realizing the moment is already becoming something you’ll hold onto later.

The air was thick with scents fighting for our attention and more importantly our cash: warm cider spiced with cinnamon, savory empanadas sizzling on flat tops, sweet waffles dusted with powdered sugar, and the scent of patchouli drifting lazily from a booth on the corner of the food area. Every step brought a new smell - Jamaican scotch bonnet relish, Venezuelan arepas, Cajun gumbo, and something unmistakably chocolate that neither of us could quite place but both silently agreed we wanted. I ended up with a catfish Po-Boy after false starting on a chopped cheese sandwich.

It wasn’t just the food. It was the people. A swirl of languages rose and faded around us. Spanish from a family debating which cheese flavor to pick, Chinese from a family walking through the stalls, laughter in Urdu trailing from a group struggling to fit everyone into a selfie. Cultures blended not in a melting pot, but like a mosaic: distinct, colorful, and somehow more beautiful together.

We stopped at stall after stall, artisans with calloused hands and kind eyes, proudly explaining their craft. Hand-carved wooden ornaments. Handwoven scarves. Tiny watercolor prints of the city. Jewelry made from recycled coins and tokens. A man selling wooden bowls from his childhood home in Laos. A woman who made leather journals by hand, each one stitched with quiet devotion. I watched Maria run her fingers across the displays, that small look of concentration she gets when she’s imagining where something might belong in our home.

We didn’t rush. We let ourselves exist in the moment, letting the crowd carry us, letting curiosity steer us, letting the early winter chill bite our cheeks just enough to remind us it was real.

By the time we left, our bags were a little heavier, our wallets a little lighter, and our hearts… well, they felt full in the way small adventures make them full. A reminder that simple moments can be the best ones!

Walking home through the city streets and then sitting on the subway, I found myself grateful for the diversity that makes a place like Union Square feel alive. Grateful for the creativity of people who share their craft with strangers. Grateful for the time with Maria, for the way the season seems brighter when she’s beside me.

Some memories glow quietly. This one, I think, will stay warm for a while.