Every So Often the Big Man Gives You One of Those Days

 What a lovely weekend just passed -- it almost made us forget we're still in the midst of a worldwide plague.

Friday night Kenny, Eric, Dana, Barry, Josh and I solved the world's problems over some Zoom cocktails -- laughing a bit, and with me only repeating, I think, one story I had told from the week before. It happens more and more when I drink, much to Wifey's schadenfreude delight, as she's been losing it for years. I'm finally catching up...or down.

Saturday was gorgeous -- walked the 'hood, and rested, and later on Jeff and Lili stopped by. Lili and I polished off a bottle of Stag's Leap while Jeff and Wifey drank flavored seltzer. It was nice catching up with old friends, and talking about the life paths our combined 5 daughters have taken. They've had different experiences -- we realized how lucky we are that our two Ds have wonderful life partners -- Jeff and Lili are so far only 1 for 3 in that Department. Hopefully they'll join the club.

And yesterday was the highlight. D1 and Joey have been going to Pace Park with the grandson. The City did a beautiful job of renovating the bayside gem -- in a long seedy area called Omni. It has a large dog park, tot lot, fields, and beautiful bay walk.

We met them there, and watched the toddler gleefully toddle about the fields. He comically stumbled toward Wifey and collapsed into her arms in a warm hug. Wifey was ecstatic -- she kind of likes the little man.

We walked to the tot lot, and enjoyed watching the other kids, of literally all races and ethnicities, play happily. We chatted with a very hipster couple with 2 beautiful blonde girls -- the parents full of tatoos and piercings -- the girls so beautiful and happy. They were new to the area, and asking about local museums. Our little man seemed a bit interested in Coco -- just a month or two older than he.

Coco's sister was 2 years older, and I told the Dad to savor each moment. Somehow I had Ds that were 1 and 4 playing at a tot lot, and through some sort of physics time warp experiment, were now fully grown, married, and one with her own baby. The Dad said he videoed everything -- he already saw the time flying by.

We walked to the Bay, and there came bounding an enormous puppy -- Betsy, with D2 and Jonathan. They stopped by for awhile on their way to take dinner to Jonathan's Dad -- he's home while Jonathan's Mom is in NYC visiting their first grandchild, a baby girl. We can just imagine how moving that meeting must have been -- Lizbeth has wanted a grandchild for a while now -- and got herself a beautiful red haired girl.

We "posted up" by the dog park. The grandson ran around. An English Dad was practicing soccer with his boy and girl -- joked that between a Brit Dad, and his Colombian wife, the kids were born to the game. The little girl, long, curly, raven haired, passed the ball to our little man. He kicked it, a little, and we melted. Then the beautiful young girl inadvertently knocked him down. He laughed. I told him it certainly wouldn't be the last time a pretty girl knocked him on his tuches in life.

It was 5:30. My Pay to Park App told me we had been there 3 hours. It seemed like 1. The Ds and their men and baby and dogs all left for their evenings. I was starving, and called in a takeout order for Shorty's barbecue -- Wifey's favorite.

We ate outside by the pool, in the luscious mid March Miami evening. We talked about how beautiful the day had been.

My wise Rabbi friend, when consoling someone going through a tough time, says, of course, this, too, shall pass. Years ago Paul told him how wonderful his life was going. Rabbi Yossi said this, too, shall pass.

So the bad and good both last, but not forever.

But for whatever reason, the Big Man blessed us with a true day in the sun yesterday, a true day in the park, with those sacred to us. And it made me one thankful Daddy in the USA.