They did it up big, too. Oh, the food was simple enough. He just grilled some hot dogs. But they rented one of those giant water
slides for the “kids” to play on. I have
always loved that euphemism. Who is to
say how old you have to be to be considered one of those things? My Mom considered me her kid until the day she
died, right? Kel, Josh and Nathan will
always be our kids, no matter how old they get (And Nathan just turned 29, so
he is almost into the ranks of “Old-dom” himself). To quote a giant of the literary world, “I’ll
never grow old.” – Peter Pan. And that
illuminating master of marketing, “I don’t wanna grow up.” - Geoffrey Giraffe. Certainly two more of my personal
heroes.
Now the party began pretty much as I
expected. All the “adults” sat around
talking and trying to maneuver themselves into a position to take the most
advantage of the breeze that was blowing.
The children, however were flitting back and forth between the giant
slide and the small swimming pool set up on opposite sides of the house. Which meant that in actuality, the so-called adults
were inwardly pining for the opportunity to cast aside their inhibitions and join
the kiddos in their watery revelry. What
would it take for that to happen? A few
more drinks? Maybe building up to it
slowly by playing a few games of pitchin’ washers? Perhaps.
But what they really needed was a catalyst – someone to break the
ice. Someone to give them
permission. Now it first fell to the
hosts to accept that responsibility. So
April took the initial plunge, followed quickly by several of the ladies. It took some doing, but she finally gathered
Nathan into her spell, and the two of them flew down together in a romantic
gesture of solidarity. Sadly, however,
only one other of the men made the leap (that I saw, anyway). I suppose they were too intimidated by the
old macho man front that is so often required of their species. What would it take to break through their
defenses? Someone would have to show
them it was OK. Someone they didn’t expect. Someone they wouldn’t anticipate in a million
years had to step up and get wet.
Someone … OK. You know where this is going, right? I got my swim suit on, grabbed Cailyn’s hand
for some support, and together we swooped into action. And not just once, mind you. We went four or five times. I’m not sure how many exactly, because I lost
track after The Collision. Not the one
where Cailyn ended up with a loose front tooth.
That one happened before I ever suited up. This one came after she and I slid down and
were in disarray at the bottom, not sure which way was up. Suddenly – and abruptly - Jachin arrived. Now that kid is ten or so now, and he has,
well, grown. What I mean to say is, when
he slammed into me from behind … ouch. Plus
we then became so entangled that I couldn’t roll over to see if Cailyn had
received any of the brunt of his forceful attack. Thankfully, her laugh told me she was fine,
so I could concentrate on determining which way was up so I could extricate myself
from Jachin legs. He seemed to be fine,
and of course I wasn’t about to admit pain either. We slowly figured out the puzzle and made our
way to the side of the pit – where Cailyn stood, waiting patiently for me to “go
again, DadDad.” I agreed to one more
run, and then retired to the sidelines to resume my position as the doddering
old man. I have to say that my attempt
at encouraging more manly participation seemed to fall on deaf eyes and blind
ears (or however that’s supposed to go).
Maybe some more guys joined in after we left. I hope so.
It was really fun. Oh. And happy birthday, Nathan.
Psalms 71:5 says, “For you have been my hope, O Sovereign Lord, my confidence since my
youth.”
Father, draw all those youngsters who were
at the party close to you … no matter what age they are. Amen.
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