It was another road trip with a bunch of kids in the car for
the Blue and White Spring Football Game in Pueblo. We had planned the trip in
January. Our grandson was a redshirt last year. He worked out all year, but
didn’t play. The spring game would determine if he would be selected to play on
the team for the September, 2015 roster.
It was a really big deal. Our youngest daughter took off
from work so she wouldn’t miss the big event. The whole family was together
except for our oldest daughter.
Our son had planned his vacation during this time and was in
town. We needed to transport a car to Pueblo. The plan was to take two cars and
drop off one. We’d all come home together in a rented van. We should have
looked into a bus.
Then it happened, we were taken back to when our kids were
kids. Al drove, I rode in the front seat. Our forty-seven-year-old son became a
kid again. He was teasing his sister and pulling her hair. She was yelling,
“Stop it.”
They were in the backseat listening and watching an Asian
Karaoke show. They were giggling and fighting. Apparently Asian Karaoke is different than
what we know Karaoke to be. When they sing, they also do other things, like hit
themselves, jump a jump rope or act like a horse.
The noise was driving My Sweet Al and I up the wall. Al was
trying to listen to some Goldie Oldies on the radio and my phone was buzzing. Allison
and our son-in-law were in a different car. She was texting and planning the
next roadside stop.
I don’t text. She thought it was time for me to learn how.
This was not the time with all the noise coming from the backseat. She insisted
it was the perfect time for me to learn. I wrote her back. It took me five
minutes to text her four sentences. Why
do I have to learn how to text? My fingers are too big for the keyboard. Your
brother and sister are driving me up the wall. Why can’t I call you?
No, that wouldn’t do. At the next stop, she said, “Mother,
in texting you’re not supposed to write a whole book. People don’t have time to
read long messages. Abbreviate them: URAQT, TTYL, 2G2B4G or K. Make them short. Take this sheet with these
abbreviations. You need to learn them and get to the point.”
We arrived in Pueblo and met our grandson at one of our
favorite restaurants. Our son insisted I look at his phone video during dinner.
He wanted to share his big party he had for all his employees at Christmas time.
He was proud of them and their big production.
There were seven people sitting at the table. Our grandson
wanted to talk and our son wanted the family to watch his video. The waitress
came to the table and waited for us to order. I said, “Not now, Stephen, can’t we see it
later?” He continued to watch it. “The circus had come to town.”
For me, the trip was about our grandson. It was his time. I
wanted to know all the details about the game. Such as, if he made the roster for
next year, what comes next? Our grandson was trying to tell us.
If you understand the dynamics of our family, our grandson
and son have the very same personalities. They are timely introverts—quiet. When
they want to be part of the fun and talk, we listen. They both command a
certain presence and the rest of the family will hop to it and give them
attention.
Then, of course, there is the old kid. Al’s brother, David,
eighty-one, calls. It’s all about him. He wanted to know about our grandson, but more
than that, he wanted to tell us about staying out all night. He didn’t get into
six a.m. It was all worth it though, he met these two girls at the wine tasting
party the night before. Yes we know. Yada, yada ….
He said one of them was a bookkeeper and was a
knock-down-drag-out-gorgeous girl. He didn’t ever remember a bookkeeper looking
so good. This is his lifestyle. I think he’s too old for this nonsense, but he
doesn’t think so. He doesn’t plan to grow up any time soon.
It was a weekend of adult children acting like teenagers.
The old kid thinks he’s a teenager. He called and wanted to talk about his new
quest. Our son watched Asian video shows all weekend and teased his little
sister. My Sweet Al tried to listen to Perry Como and Allison had me texting
all weekend.
Our grandson’s team won, he made the roster. He will dress
out for this coming year’s games. We’ll be driving over the Pass and taking
more road trips together as a family. He’ll have the CSU Pueblo football
uniform on. We’ll have our new “Team Wylie” Sports blankets wrapped around us.
And yes, we’ll break our necks to get there to cheer his team on.
Final Brushstroke! I guess at heart, we are all kids. We are
living our childhood through our kids, we act putout, but we wouldn’t change a
thing. If it doesn’t kill us, I think this stuff is supposed to keep us young.
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