I first heard the sound of a basketball crashing against the concrete floor and then saw the man bouncing it as he walked across the street.
Sebastian Diaz was on his daily walk from his home on Folsom St. to the Garfield Park basketball courts and then to El Chico Produce on 24th St to buy vegetables for his afternoon soup.
Diaz is from Peru and is now retired. He migrated in 1993 after his sister sponsored him for a visa.
A few days shy of his 70th birthday, he has lived in the Mission the past two years. His home is in the Sunset District, where his partner still lives, but he’s staying with his brother while he battles depression.
“Depression is difficult,” he said in Spanish. “I have everything but I don’t enjoy it.”
But he’s working hard to get through it: he said he gets out of the house every single day to avoid focusing too much on the physical pain that comes with his depression.
“I’m praying,” he shared.
He then walked away toward Chico’s, still bouncing his basketball.