My friends have generously agreed to confide in me the details of their last thoughts before sleep and let me be there when they wake up the next morning.

“La vie est un rêve; c’est le réveil qui nous tue.” - Virginia Wolfe.

Gene Juillierat, 78, of Youngstown, Ohio, teared up as he was reunited with the carousel horse he rode as a child. Juillierat and other citizens of Youngstown visited Dumbo on Oct. 27, 2008 with the Idora Carousel Bus Tour. Joan Yanchick organized the group after she spotted the carousel of her childhood on a TV newscast. The 20s-era carousel was auctioned off after Idora theme park closed 25 years ago, and she and the other members of the tour hadn’t seen it since. Jane Walentas and her husband David purchased the entire carousel in 1988 and brought it to Brooklyn. Walentas has spent the time since restoring what is now called Jane’s Carousel to its former glory and hopes to find a new home for it in a Brooklyn park. Many of the visitors, like Juillierat, became emotional with nostalgia during the reunion. “I used to say giddy-up horse. This brings back so many memories,” said Juillierat.