joaquín

i took the subway home with my three year old nephew today.
i watched in love-struck awe as he worked on his $1.00 icy.
the sweetened, frozen water stained his lips both yellow and green.
occasionally he closed his eyes while sucking on the tiny paper cup, as if to enhance his icy experience, or perhaps to simply enter a deep concentration.
i noticed him balance himself with the movement of the subway car, and i couldn't help but think, "no one is cuter than this".

i started thinking about what a crazy childhood one has growing up in nyc-
the standard of noise and crowds we grow accustomed to.
i thought about how people had discussed not wanting to raise their children in such a city and thinking, "well...i grew up here and i had a happy childhood, as far as i can remember..."
as if reading my mind, joaquín said something that i was sure i misheard.
when i asked him to repeat himself he confirmed what i had thought he had said:
"i love new york"
where did that statement come from?
when i could effectively question him further about this totally random comment, he clarified, "i love new york because it is my home."
as an ambivalent new yorker myself, i thought that summed it up pretty perfectly.
i love new york because it is my home.