There is now one more element of discomfort in my life. This happens when I cannot find a particular barbijo (Argentine and good Spanish for face mask that protects you from a virus). I immediately have to return to my house and look for it.

Some would say that possessions are not important and particularly when you are an old man.

It was in my early 20s when for about two minutes I considered that I had a vocation and that I could become a Brother of Holy Cross. This meant that at short notice I could be assigned to go to a mission in Africa. In one suitcase I would then pack a bible, a missal, a few pairs of black socks, some underwear, a pair of shoes, and some pants and shirts. I would be ready to go at a moment’s notice. What freedom to have no possessions!

But then you get married and after 52 years you have lots of stuff (a lot of it valuable with memories or in rarity). What then?

But there are some items of possession that I do not in the least think of getting rid of or do I feel guilty about acquiring them.

Barbijos are here to stay. My latest ones (the black one with the Mexican seal is mine) and the other two I purchased for my daughters (who were born in Tacubaya, Mexico City) at a Mexican store called Tierra Latina on 2018 Commercial Drive.

I was almost tempted to buy stuff there as it is all beautiful. But I thought of that mission in Africa.