“Grandma?” the man with the backpack said, crossing the street to get a better look at the elegant elderly woman walking down the sidewalk with a cane.

“Oh hello!” she said, turning, apparently surprised to see him. He hugged her in greeting.

“Happy birthday!” the man said, “I actually have a card for you up in my apartment.”

They continued to chat on the sidewalk for a few moments, as Jen and I stifled our delighted laughter. “SO CUTE,” we mouthed, and she discretely snapped a photo.

This was a really enjoyable serendipitous neighborhood moment to witness. Sometimes, Prospect Heights feels like “where I’m living”, but with a shorter-term feel because I don’t have deep roots there yet. But, seeing generations of a family both clearly from the neighborhood running into each other on my block makes it feel like more than just a pass-through community; it’s a home.