The soldier, this weekend, he was going to polish his boots. This stuff always amuses me greatly because by some phenomenon I re-experience all these giddy feelings I had when I was 17 and he was doing the same or similar thing.

You know how you feel when you are a teenager in love and the man is sitting there on the couch looking tasty and he’s yours? And you can hardly believe your dumb luck? I feel like that and he knows it.

“P, do you have some newspaper? I need some newspaper,” he said.

Same words he said 30 years ago so I just looked at him with a stupid grin as all my giddy girlish feelings flooded in. “Newspaper? There is no newspaper. I’ve not had any newspaper for 10 years, it no longer exists, it’s become obsolete, newspaper. No one has any anymore.”

He stared for second and then said he was glad his grandmother was dead. ‘She wouldn’t know what to do without newspaper. What are all the old ladies going to do with no newspaper, P?”

I laughed because he looks 19 years old to me at times and this was one of those times.

He mentioned his great aunt by name, she’s still alive. “I bet she’s flippin’ out for sure. What the hell can you do with no newspaper? She uses stuff for everything. These poor old ladies. How are they supposed to send a Sicilian message?” he asked sincerely.

I put my head in my hands to laugh heartily.

This guy, I’ve got – he’s a big score. I thought that then and I think it now.