9 June, 2025: Why They No Longer Walk Together

set in Esztergom, Hungary

It was just an idea: that the two of them, Mother and Father, ought to go for walks together. Now that Father was making peace over the fact that his mother had died, he was feeling okay about starting a new walking habit with Mother. And so, there they were, dressed in tracksuits that fit tightly over their wrinkled skin, the kind of modern walking attire suitable for spring. Mother’s thin legs were well wrapped in black. Father’s belly peeked out from under his shirt, and Mother thought it was for the better. It would make for good motivation to lose it. As they walked, Mother said ,,Lassít lassít,” as Father had the habit of walking very quickly. Mother’s legs weren’t used to the pace, and it was hard for her to keep up. But then Father started walking too slowly, and Mother outpaced him. ,,You are being ridiculous. Don’t make me feel like a turtle,” she said.

They were walking right on the bank of the Danube River. On one side was the Mária Valéria Bridge, and on the other side was Štúrovo, one of the cities of Slovakia. Because these cities were all part of the European Union, sometimes they would cross into Slovakia just for the sake of it, walk around the town, and come back. Still, with the elegant stone basilica of Esztergom perched right on the top of its own little hill, the stone fortress underneath it sheathed by the coming spring leaves, there was little reason to stare towards Slovakia. Mother found herself much more inspired by staring at the impressive Catholic architecture of the town that had welcomed her husband as their doctor.

Mother and Father made their rounds up and down the bank. Mother found it very refreshing, given how little she usually went outside. The spring had a heat of its own that did not burn Mother’s skin but almost embalmed it. And she liked how bare and green it was underneath the fortress. There were no small winding alleys here, only the oak trees and the grass and the breeze from the Danube.

So, why did it have to be ruined by Hanna and Aranka walking on the very same path? Mother thought she’d only see them in the park of Szentgyörgymezö, when they’d be returning home from their own duties or sticking to their group of women from the neighbourhood. Did these particular two have the habit of walking together along the Danube? Mother did not know, despite having been neighbours with them for over four decades.