| 77 When I was born I had no idea which direction my life was going to take. Lying there in my cotton nappies, perfectly at peace with my surroundings, battling the fluffy teddy bear on a hourly basis. Then again, what do I know? What does one really remember regarding the first couple of years of once existence? As time lapsed so did the distance between new experiences. Hands and fingers which once held my attention for hours now just simply served to aid me in my latest explorations. I learned to talk, to walk, and not to eat chalk as this would only lead to a sore throat and need for liquid intake which in-turn lead to potty breaks… At the ripe age of 8 I discovered my love for all that was perilous; climbing trees, jumping curves while riding my bike, throwing rocks at bee hives. Oh the fun I had, and the misery I must have put my parents through. Countless packages of band-aids were expended, bottles of iodine lined up in our recycle corner. I was going to be an explorer when I grew up, head out on expeditions to the deepest jungle recesses of Africa and Asia. Duke it out with tigers in the Himalaya, wrestle pythons in the Amazon estuaries, but first I had to tame our tabby cat… 15 brought me my first summer romance. Her name was Rose; she wore a thousand freckles on her dimpled cheeks, draped herself with flowery dresses and introduced me to the sounds of the Beatles. My family had stayed in a hilltop cabin which overlooked the valley. Her family stayed in a tent in the valley which was overshadowed by the hill. We swam in the stream, played hide and go seek in the forest, and had our first kiss under a great oak’s leafy canopy. How I loved the taste of her strawberry lip-gloss. While taking breathes of air in between kisses we would talk about life and how we could always be together. She wanted to be a veterinary and I wanted to be that too, just so we could be together. Graduating .03 GPA shy of honors didn’t bother me one iota. In one hand I held my new degree in Business Administrations, in the other hand I held Sue. She was going to graduate next year with a geology degree, and honors. She was 23, I was 27 and ready to enter “real” life. My job applications had been send out, all I needed to do now was wait for the right offer to come along and start earning those bucks. Till then I still had my job as a Kinko’s store manager. Oh, and the keys to my new Firebird! Try as I may, I can’t recall Billy’s birth. I was hung-over, groggy from lack of sleep and to tell you the truth, seeing Amy lying there in the hospital with a head turning purple each time she had to push a little further scared the living bejeezus out of me. I had made a promise that should we have another kid I was going to experience it with a different state of mind. Things weren’t all that different when Josh was born either, though I wasn’t hung-over this time. Good thing I received a camcorder to celebrate my 36th year on this earth. If I wasn’t clear of mind during the delivery, then at least I could view it over and over again on the television later that day. And view it I did, over and over again. I lost track of time, engrossed in the miracle called birth, up until the phone rang and that pot-head of an employee of mine told me he had had enough and was quitting his job right then and there to become a roadie for some Grateful Dead cover band. Kinko’s called my name, and I answered it again. What ever had happened to all those job applications I send out? A rotten game, golf that is, give me bowling or darts any day! A sport where you can’t partake in a cold one simultaneous holds no appeal with me. People tell me the game grows on you, that once you are hooked you will want to play more and more… Not I, not ever! Still, it was a great means to network with, and Amy’s dad had sponsored me at the club. But explain me one thing; why does a 44 year old have to wear goofy plaid pants to land a nice managerial job with the states largest pharmaceutical company? And what is it with all these different clubs? One to chip, one to wedge, on to drive, one to dance, one to romance and one to throw into trees when you again manage to sink your ball in the water! What a house, and right behind hole #6. Two car garage, 4 bedrooms, a study, a den, living room and dining room and a kitchen were Hazel could do her magic. I had met Hazel at a dinner function 3 years prior, it was love at first sight. Amy did not take it so well, and who can blame her? She had given me 21 years of her life, two sons whom had grown into promising adults; one excelling at art, the other in science. I guess that when I reached the age of 50 I just wanted some more then meatloaf on a Wednesday night. The luster had left our relationship years before. After the papers were signed, and saw my savings split in half and house disappear, I moved in with Hazel. Now, at 53 I was about to become a dad again, twins. Short hand. Short hand. Short hand. It has taken me a year, but I finally managed to improve my short hand! Retiring isn’t all that bad as long as you have a decent short hand. Currently I am ranked 66th in the state, which is beautiful as I counted as many candles on my last birthday cake! It would have been fun to have had Trish and Terra present, but Hazel wasn’t allowing my visitation rights to be shifted to a Tuesday night. But the evening wasn’t a waste, not by a long shot. Billy and Maria were there, and my grand son Jesse who had recently turned 4. And Josh had managed to take time off from shooting his latest film and showed up with Andrew, his partner. Amy also accepted the invite, she looked lovely and we talked for hours on end. Her husband Brandon couldn’t make it as his lay-over in Toronto had been delayed causing him to miss his connecting flight at Duluth. Did I mention my short hand had improved? I hate these tubes and wires sticking out of me. The constant bleeping of the EKG is maddening, but the doctors tell me it serves as a reminder to my brain to keep the muscles pumping. Some psycho-thera-mumbo-jumbo some science guy from Pakistan discovered a couple of years back. I got a card from Terra today, a birthday card. One day early. She is about to enter med school, her sister Trish is another story all together. Out of high school she took a year off to discover herself in Europe. One backpack filled with clothes, a guide and a copy of her favorite book “the Black Stallion” and off she went. We didn’t hear from her for 4 months, I had even asked one of my golfing buddies who’s son works with the foreign department to do some inquiries when the email showed up. She had reached some Italian village near the Alps in a region called Piedmont, some guy named Paolo had a vineyard and probably some room for an innocent teenager with big blue eyes. They got married 2 months after meeting each other, and 7 months after that I became a grandfather for the 4th time. They send me a bottle of their wine for my birthday last year, it wasn’t bad but a little to dry for my taste. Maybe tomorrow’s big day will bring me another. Seventy and seven years, with a short game gone to hell. And these tubes, all these tubes sticking in me… Bypass, who would have thought? If I could wish for anything tomorrow it would be for a freckled face to give me 77 strawberry laced birthday kisses. ... |