We worked 1 block apart
For 5 ½ years, you worked 1 block away from me. I should say that I worked 1 block away from you, since you were there first. Right on 41st and Broadway, it was just mere steps to me on 41st and 6th. When I got a new job, I only moved 7 blocks down. And my latest job was only 14 blocks down. We had 8 years of breathing the same air.
Yet, our own worlds were happening that made it seem like we were miles apart. You asked me what I thought of the new H&M in Times Square and were astonished that I didn’t know about it. But my subway let out on 6th so I never walked in that direction. You would tell me to watch an air show over the Hudson, but unlike you, I did not have a corner office with views of the Hudson. Well, to be fair, my office did overlook Bryant Park so no complaints. And although we were so close, I only randomly bumped into you twice.
Every 2 months or so though, we met for lunch. Sometimes, you wanted me to take you out for Chinese, since that was a treat. Other times, I wanted you to take me somewhere for an overpriced fancy salad. These lunches were an hour max, sometimes even shorter. When we would get in and out in 45 minutes, we were so excited. It wasn’t that we didn’t want to see each other. We knew we were lucky that we could see each other for a quick lunch. Think of how many more people you would be willing to catch-up if you knew it was just 45 minutes a block away from your office!
Occasionally, we dropped by each other’s offices. I went to your office one morning to drop off all of Sung’s old CDs for you, which is an extraordinary memory for me. Another day, my company accidentally received 150 grilled cheese sandwiches a day earlier than we needed them so I invited you to my office to help us eat them. You sat at a table with 8 or 9 of my coworkers like you were one of us. You always fit in. Another time, you came to my office for a beer before heading out to a show with Mom. I wasn’t even going to the show. We just pre-gamed our nights together.
Although I saw you a lot in 2019, we didn’t have one of our lunches. Our last lunch was in September, 2018. Our work schedules were busy. We saw each other for shows and games. Sometimes, I knew you and Mom were grabbing dinner somewhere before a show and I would just show up and sit with you for a while. It’s not like we didn’t see each other. But of course it is easy to look back and wonder how we didn’t make more time for those lunches. We didn't know our time was limited though. Who cares if we were light on lunch in 2019? We thought we had 2020, 2021, 2029. We had a lifetime of lunches ahead of us.
I would do anything to show up late to a meeting because we were having lunch. Instead, you are dead and I eat lunch at my home office desk which is next to my bed. Every time I walk by La Pecora Bianca, the site of our last lunch, I remember when you made me guess the waiter’s name, and when I shouted it out, the waiter turned abruptly and thought I was shouting at him. When I sat down for lunch at the rooftop at Eataly on my wedding day, I remembered the time you took me there for my birthday and I had a lunch beer in the middle of the work day. And when I stroll past Bryant Park Grill, I remember our outdoor lunch where I waved to co-workers walking by who later questioned who my mysterious lunch date was that day.
Dad, we worked 1 block from each other. Just one block. How lucky were we? And now, you are so many blocks away. Everything feels so far away. The hardest part about having so many amazing memories with you is that I knew we would have so many more. I would trade so many things for more lunches with you.
