I Don't Know - Gwendolyn Chrzanowski

Oil on canvas
24" x 24"
 
Old Friends
by Ronnie Lovler
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Years ago, they had hung out in this neighborhood together. As boys they had run through here with other youngsters, often ending up at Sr. Velasco’s corner grocery store when they would unfurl a dime for their fingers and buy themselves a treat. They would while away many an afterschool afternoon near this lot and often find themselves meeting up here on a Saturday when there was nothing else much to do. 
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Both grew up and had moved on to other cities, other towns. As so often happens, they lost touch with each other, but from time to time when they reflected on the “good old days,” they would think of each other fondly.  Neither of these two men had family here any longer, but from time to time, nostalgia would pull them back to their old stomping grounds. But they had never bumped into each other until this day. Although running shoes and t-shirts were part of their regular attire, for both, their running days were behind them. Both separately, had decided to go out for a walk. 
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After the men hugged upon seeing each other, they stopped to talk, and to remember, what for them were simpler and less complicated times. But after a half hour they still weren’t ready to say good-by. They walked off in the direction of Sr. Velasco’s store, surprisingly still there.  They stopped in to say hello to Sr. Velasco, who himself was surprisingly still there. But a brewery had opened down the street and so, they rightfully concluded that  the occasion called for a nice cold beer or two in what ended up being a very special Florida day for both.