Old Pals

On my way to a work shift at the restaurant by my house, I passed a man sitting outside a toy store, so I said hello.

He introduced himself as Cesar, and as it turned out, he was not there for the toy store.

Across from the bench where he sat and down some stairs was a gym that I’d never noticed before.

He’d recently recovered from hip surgery and had looked for somewhere to get some exercise, and this place was the perfect place for it.

As Cesar put it, once you start the habit of going, your body asks for it.

He was headed over there when I said hi, so as we walked into the gym he explained to me that he’d grown up in DC, but that his parents were from Spain.

We spoke a bit about high school since he went to a school nearby, and he told me that the best thing he learned in high school was the importance of work ethic.

“Just do something every day” was his motto in college, because consistency is what’s most important in practically everything. 

Meet Cesar

What brings him joy?

On the note of thinking about the past, Cesar mentioned that seeing old friends brings him a lot of joy.

He explained that when you spend time with these people, you don’t see them as however old they are at that moment; rather, you see the grade school version of them, which I thought was pretty interesting.

There’s no need to impress each other with whatever accomplishments you’re working on because they’re your friends regardless of those things.

Cesar and his old friends go on a yearly trip to Ocean City, and they rent a condo to hang out together for the trip.

These are such good times, he said, because they’re spent with genuine people who bring genuine joy.