That 2021

 I call him Mooch, his dad calls him Piglet, his name is Francisco.  Francisco is my 21 year old son. He is kind and thoughtful and funny. When he was younger we were inseparable but now he's an old guy.  Yesterday, he talked about a sandwich place,  La Panineria NYC, and we decided to take a walk.  I have'nt walked with him in a while. I jumped at the chance. 3 miles of walking and talking. No phones or TV.  At first, I thought it was a bit weird. He has the long legs and I was struggling to keep up.  "Slow down," I said.  I can't help it.  But he slowed down.  We walked some more, talked some more, ease-dropped on the people walking behind us.  We got to the shop and ordered our lunch. He treated me to lunch and paid for my salad.  Such a nice gesture.  I was smiling under my mask.  Then we zigzagged the streets of Manhattan back to our apartment.  We got home, plopped on the sofa and enjo...

 Al is my neighbor. He's an older dude that is super cool.  I need to take a step back. I've lived on this floor of my building forever and Al has been my neighbor forever. I mean forever, I've lived here since I was 1.  When I was younger, Al was the cool dude on the fancy bike, a Cannondale I think.  Then Al was the cool dude on the electric skateboard. He would take that skateboard and carve up and down the street. He was that guy with the long dreads and the skateboard. I was always in awe of him. Free and living life the way he wanted. Never going by the rules, always being himself.  Today, Al is still my neighbor. Actually, he is my friend, more like my long lost uncle. He is the kindest man I know. Al is still super cool but he doesn't move like he once did. He has a limp. He aches.  But he still rides.  Today we went to Costco. It seems like a simple thing but it's a bit more. It's time. It's time spent with a friend that is family....