Rita has been a good hostess and treated me well! I've spent much time at her computer. She told me she would train me to be her assistant, if I'd like to come back sometime and stay with her. I'm still thinking about that! Rita let me wander through the house and studio and I ran across many interesting things, including her three cats. I'll get back to those later. I tried to put my handprints in the cement block that Shirley did as a child, but couldn't reach!

While in Brooklyn, I met a Shirley Temple doll cousin, Betsy! She lives with Rita. The other cousins live at Rita's fathers house. We couldn't get out there this time to meet them. Maybe next time!

Over the weekend Rita and her husband, John, took me to the beach. It was warm, so they both wanted to go fishing. It was so awesome to actually drive down to the beach in the car, on the sand! There were tons of other people there, and they were fishing also!

The next morning we got back in the car and drove into Manhattan. It's only about twenty minutes away, but now Rita has to go through checkpoints along with everyone else, so there was major traffic. I begged Rita to let me take a picture of where the world trade center was. Oh well, I tried! Rita bought me a picture of the Trade Center plus a postcard to write home! She also gave me a little souvenir of the New York skyline. Just my size! I played with it all the way home. The officer at the checkpoint looked at me funny, but I didn't care. I had the back seat all to myself! The one thing I really wanted to do was to go to "ground zero". I heard so much about it. Rita said that she had gone there with her friends a few weeks before, and she said it was too wild and crowded down there for a doll like me! She gave me a picture of the area on the day she went. So now, I'm happy that I saw it, even a picture. It's hard for me to understand it all, but it's great to see all the flags and how nice and cooperative everyone is to each other in the city. Rita says it really has changed for the better, but was sorry it had to happen this way!

Sunday afternoon, RIta and John's friend Mike had a barbeque. Rita snuck me over there in her jacket. I was shy because there were so many people there! Mike only lives a few blocks from them in Brooklyn, so we were able to walk over. Its really a nice neighborhood. Everone says "hello!" Mike is so cute! He thought it was great I came over. I hung out on his computer, but Rita gave me a photo of him to take home. I think I'm in love!!!

Monday was a very strange day. Early in the morning, I heard Rita making all these phone calls in her office. She came into the bedroom and said that a plane went down in her brother-in-law's neighborhood, on his block!! I was scared. Rita thought it was all happening again. Her husband, John, was very upset until he heard that his brother Tony and his wife were okay. An engine landed in a boat in a yard across the street from them!! The houses behind them were on fire, but their home was okay. Rita told me not to worry, that it sounded like a terrible accident. .... I was so glad Rita's family and friends were okay. I really want to come back and go to Long Island.

On Tuesday right before Rita packed me up for my next trip, she brought home the latest newspapers with the story about the plane. I asked her for a picture for my journal. She looked at me like I was suddenly bald or something, but I told her I wanted something to remember Monday on. She cut out the map and circled where her brother-in-laws house is. She also gave me a picture of one of my ancestor Shirley Temple dolls to take home! I really enjoyed my time here and want to come back and visit my other doll cousins. It was exciting here!

Oh yeah, one more thing! Rita told me that if I come back and be her assistant, I'm going to have to learn to drink coffee. Lots of it. So she bought me a mug with the Verrazano Bridge on it! Its right in her neighborhood!
Love, Shirley