Rounds

By Chris Toto Zaremba

I left the market slowly walking behind a stooped over elderly man.
I teased, “Lets get a move on here!”
He stopped, straightened out and turned to me with a chuckle,
“At 92, I don’t move too fast!”
We ended up talking for over an hour. He was doing his ’rounds’ he told me: to the bank, pick up the paper at the market, then he’ll go get an ice cream. It was a routine he and his wife had each Tuesday. He told me not to worry about the past or the future, just enjoy the beautiful weather today and our conversation.
As I started to leave the parking lot, I looked over and noticed that he went over and sat at the picnic table outside Walgreens, pulled out a sandwich from his paper bag and was reading his newspaper.
He seemed content. I wished I had stayed a little longer to keep him company during his lunch break.