Yesterday was Beth’s last day of school. It also marked Beth’s last day of middle school. This little girl… Will start high school this fall. Our resident young-adult pulled straight As for the year again, not that I’m bragging, of course. Think of it more as a statement of fact that doesn’t reflect poorly on the author or the subject.
Family and Friends
Plans change
Seventeen years ago today, on another Saturday afternoon, Cheryl and I got married. Unfortunately, I got sick the night after our wedding and we spent our honeymoon in the ER. I spent it doing unmentionable things with the contents of my stomach. Today, all these years later, we spent the day in a familiar spot – a hospital – this time with Adam as he had his ailing appendix out. I’d say the day is cursed, but I’d be exaggerating. Me? Exaggerate? I know! We’ve had many wonderful years in between, and we have no reason to believe we won’t [...]
My boy
Adam still likes stuffed animals. We thought he might outgrow this “faze” by the time he started kindergarten. He hasn’t. Don’t get me wrong, this is not something that disturbs me in any way. In fact, it’s just the opposite. It reflects his personality – a sweet, sensitive kid. Often he’ll notice I’m not feeling too well, and without a word he’ll leave a surprise for me by my pillow. Tonight it’s a soft little white bunny to keep me company – to make me feel a little better. He won’t mention it afterwards. It’ll disappear one night, only to [...]
We’ll call him Billy
The stop sign just up the street from our house does more than control vehicle traffic. It controls a little piece of my kids’ lives. A stop sign should add an element of predictability to the cars passing by. It should slow them down. It should make drivers more aware of pedestrians and the kids who swarm the neighborhood. It doesn’t. If anything it makes traffic less predictable. If we lived on a straight stretch of neighborhood road, with no impediment to travel at all, you could count on fewer variables. In fact, it would be quite simple. Cars would [...]
A valentine
I have an anonymous valentine. It’s not something I received from someone else. It’s something I have for someone else, in the form of this post. Pretty lame, right? No, this is not a sign of trouble in my marriage. It’s the opposite, in a way. Someone’s relationship – a big one – broke up this weekend. I feel bad, but I don’t know how to express it. Besides being a professional introvert (let me tell you, the pay sucks), I’ve never broken up – not counting emotional or mental states. I’ve had one steady girlfriend, one fiancé, and one [...]
‘Twas the night before today
The house is getting its first showing this morning, and I feel like a thirty-nine year old man going out on his first date. We got an email from our realtor yesterday evening saying he’d received a query from another realtor, asking to show the house this morning at 9 a.m. No problem, right? A nibble from someone this soon, in this market, is something. Oh, did I mention it’s the middle of the night? Did I mention I’ve had a sinus headache for the better part of the last twenty-four hours? Did I mention Beth just got sick… all [...]
Looking up
Everyone knows life has its ups and downs. Well, except for some folks who aren’t right somehow. Perpetual happiness isn’t normal. I think it’s a little creepy. But look at me, talking about right minds. Aren’t I just adorable? I’ve been down. Hell, I’ve been riding the trench so long I can barely remember what the plateau looks like. Does the grass grow lush and green up there? Maybe it’s not so great after all. I really don’t like yard work. Tonight’s an up night. The weather has cooled. It’s not much, but enough to notice a difference. It’s enough [...]
Interpreting Beth
Many of you know Beth has high functioning autism. Some of you know Beth. A few of you are familiar with Beth’s low tolerance for discomfort of any kind, and the hypochondria that accompanies it.More than once we’ve played the town’s folk as Beth cried wolf, only to find later the wolf was real – and caught up to her. When she was a newborn/toddler her way too frequent complaints turned out to be urinary tract infections brought about my a birth defect requiring surgery – and removal of half a kidney. As she got older, the constant stomach pains [...]
Summer’s end
Beth starts school on Monday, and you know what’s crazy – besides the fact that we’re only half way through August and school’s already starting – I didn’t know. That’s right, I’m such a lousy father I didn’t know when school started. Well, today I’m feeling charitable. I like to think I’m just forgetful. Forgetful parents aren’t necessarily lousy, are they? Anyhoo, I’m of a mind to see this as a great step forward for Beth. Not that her father didn’t know, but that I wasn’t worrying about it coming. Dreading is actually a better word. You see, when most [...]
The S word
We were driving home from the Y (MCA). I was done working for the day, and the kids were done with camp for the day. Beth wanted to tell me about an “inappropriate” incident, but I asked her not to while Adam was in the car. Beth, not so easily deterred, went on anyway. Now before I go on, I need to explain that Adam has been immune to the ‘spelling what you don’t want him to hear’ trick for more than a year. The little stinker hadn’t started pre-k and he was already reading. So Beth had to adapt [...]
