Strolling Down Memory Lane

An alternative title for this post would be "Taking it to the Streets," because that's what Joey and I have doing lately in the City Elite (Baby Jogger) stroller.  Walking, walking and more walking in the neighborhood, made more special for me because I realize how soon it will be that he's too big for the stroller and I'll have to park it once and for all.

As he and I make tracks all over the neighborhood, I'm reminded so poignantly of the many, many strolls J.P. and I took together the first 2 + years of his life, until he got too big for the stroller.  Every day, Joey and I are re-tracing the walks J.P. and I took a lifetime ago to Bongo Java, La Fiesta (a.k.a. Chago's Cantina), Belmont U, Mafioza's, Kim and Hal's house and around and around our block.  Those were such special, one-on-one times I shared with J.P. and now, this time around, I'm sharing them with Joey.

I feel so lucky to return to that sacred, peaceful and uncomplicated place, as I stroll through the neighborhood with my son.  It's hard to describe, but I feel so content, so happy, when I gaze down at Joey as we walk, asleep in the City Elite.  It's such a controlled environment - one I can control - and I feel like he's safe, like I can keep him safe.  And, my God, that feeling is so very fleeting, so hard to hold onto before it slips through my fingers and is gone, leaving me helplessly grasping for it.  Soon enough, as with J.P., there will be school, play dates and birthday parties.

But for now, for an all too brief interlude of time, there are Saturday afternoon walks to Mafioza's, where I drink a couple of beers and read the New Yorker while Joey sleeps contentedly in the City Elite (though I might point out that 3 years ago I was reading the actual magazine and now I'm reading the magazine on my iPad).  There are nighttime walks (like tonight, after we put J.P. to bed) to Bongo Java, after which I enjoy a "Mood Elevator" as we take in the sights on Belmont Boulevard as we walk home.  There are other nighttime walks around an ever expanding block near our house, as I listen to random selections of music via the Spotify App on my iPhone (3 years ago, I was listening to downloaded music on my iPod).

In some ways - in many ways, actually, I wish these times could last forever.