Jacob rolled on his scooter alongside Andrew. He climbed on to a chair to watch other kids play a board game. He grabbed a cup of water and drank it. He walked over to a woman and got a hug. He hopped on his scooter again. This went on for a couple of hours.
"Is anyone watching Jacob?" I asked Hetty Fox, matriarch of the Lyman Place play street.
"Uh," she scanned around for a moment. "No, not right now. But his cousin Andrew is right there, and everyone else here knows him, too. Besides, he has lots of aunts and uncles and cousins who live right here on the street, as well as his grandmother and grandfather. In fact, his great-grandmother lives here, too."
How old would you guess Jacob is from hearing about this situation? [...] Jacob is two - just barely two.
This isn't a scenario from a small town. This happened in the South Bronx, on a "Play Street" run by Hetty Fox. What a remarkable institution, and what a remarkable woman. I really wish we had these in San Francisco.
