The New York City Violinist

Susan at Union Square in late July this year.

I was switching from the 7 train to a Brooklyn-bound N at 42nd Street one Sunday afternoon 4 or 5 years ago when I first heard Susan, the New York City Violinist. This was long before the wife met her in class and got to know her a little. That day, I was headed home after teaching in Queens and was navigating through the busy subway dodging strollers, tourists, and commuters crisscrossing in every direction when I heard the music. NYC has a plethora of subway performers, many of whom are quite good; however, only one or two really have that pull to break my momentum when I'm in a rush and make me pause a bit to listen. I took a picture of Susan performing that day in front of the subway mosaic as people rushed here and there.

Fast forward 2 or 3 years when the wife showed me a video of her and a classmate explaining occupational therapy maneuvers, I thought the classmate looked familiar until I realized it was the woman playing the violin in the subway! What a small world. The wife, who plays the piano, bonded with Susan somewhat and contacted each other about assignments and projects, and I learned at our lunch after our wedding that they also shared the same opinions about their classes and teachers.

When we decided to keep the wedding tiny the wife thought of asking Susan to be our witness, to which she gladly agreed and even offered to take her violin to the event. Luckily, our officiant at the Office of the City Clerk was nice and accommodating and let us have violin music during the ceremony. Susan played, Huseyin video recorded the whole thing, and the wife and I got a special treat on our special day.