Enn

There are certain images, sometimes so fleeting you are not even sure they were real, that imprint themselves on your mind forever. Some resurface from my memory so vividly, they are practically flashbacks.

I was walking home one morning after having breakfast in a little coffee shop in my neighborhood, it was rather a stroll, the kind you take when your body is well nourished, your mind clear and your spirits high. The morning itself was crispy-fresh and full of promise, the air fragrant with the perfume of flowers from the well-kept gardens, there was a light breeze that ruffled the crowns of the majestic trees lining the street and the only sound that could be heard was that of birds singing, chirping and doing the cheerful little things that birds do. And while my senses were delighting themselves in all of these wonders, I saw him. It was all very sudden, like finding a hair in your soup, but what I felt was not disgust, it was more like waking up from a sweet dream only to find yourself sleeping on a bench in the park. As soon as I saw him, I knew he was going to stay with me forever.

He was an old man, somewhere between seventy and eighty, I could not really tell since he was walking in front of me and I was not able to see his face clearly. Nevertheless, even looking at him from behind, a story began forming itself in my mind. Of course, everybody has a story, more precisely a life story, but when it is not available to us, we create it ourselves and it becomes real, even if only in a virtual sense. So, at great speed, a little film started to roll: his childhood years were spent during The Great Depression, the most difficult times the American people have ever known; what followed was World War II and he was sent to fight overseas; upon returning home he was not able to return to his old workplace, so he struggled in a series of jobs for several years while, at the same time, tried to raise a family, maybe buy a house, a car and make some dreams come true.

Did any of his dreams come true? I hope with all my heart he had known a little happiness in his lifetime, because when I encountered him he was searching for empty aluminum cans, one of those things some unfortunate old souls like him do in order to supplement their Social Security, that is to say to live. "My God", I thought, "this could have been my grandfather!"Ð'...Shrunk by age and hardship, with his head