I miss the Hudson River.

I miss our walks down West 254 Street & Riverdale Avenue to the train station.

We stood on the shoreline of the Hudson River,

drank our beer and made failed attempts to romance the girls.

We were poor kids, but we were rich with life.

I never thought of my parents as the waters of the river washed up underneath my feet.

A thousand beatings could await me at home and still my smile remained.

The cool air flowing off the river bank into my nose, allowed me to believe that life would get better.

As time moved on, so did a few of us kids.

God took Patrick Kelly too soon and from what I understand, the neighborhood has never been the same.

I would give anything to have just one more night by the river.

You could keep the beer and the romance, just give me the beach, give me my friends and give us Patrick back.

The simplest of pleasures came to us at no cost.

We were poor Bronx children living the life of Kings.

We were the Hudson River Kings.

*The opinions and ideas expressed are solely those of the author, and may not reflect the opinions of The Bronx Brand*

Richard DeFino is from the Kingsbridge neighborhood of the Bronx. The Bronx showed him that the outcome of any situation can be beautiful, no matter how ugly it started off. Also, adaption to your surroundings is essential for survival and he was influenced by all of the survivors that he met over the years, whether they were family or friends, good or bad. We all survived. If he needed to ditch school because anxiety was crushing him, there were countless neighborhoods with plenty of friends to sit on a stoop and share a beer and a laugh with. The Bronx is far too big to get lost inside your head.

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