Brief Encounters

My wife and I were taking our nightly after dinner walk when we came upon another couple pulling two of their grandchildren (ages about 2 and 4) in a wagon. They had stopped in front of another neighbor’s house and that neighbor was talking to one of the grandchildren. I could read the despair in the older child’s face and knew what he was thinking. He had come to grandma’s expecting to have some snacks and probably watch some tv instead now he was trapped with his stupid younger brother in some contraption being hauled around the neighborhood to do circus tricks for anyone who happened to be out in their yard.

Tell them how old you are Jimmy…

Count to five for them Jimmy…..

Juggle these chainsaws for them Jimmy…

I felt awful for him, but we have all been there.

It reminded me of a few encounters I have had in my life. The first was when I was about 3 years old. I was playing in the front yard with my mom and dad watching me when a neighbor couple came walking by. The woman looked at me and asked who is this? My dad responded that this is my son Tommy. My mom said. It’s Timmy. Dad replied, whatever. Then dad said he’s my fifth son and seventh child overall. Mom corrected with he’s our fourth son and fifth overall child. Dad replied again, whatever.

The woman said Well he’s a cutie no matter which child he is. Dad said I’m not so sure how cute he is but he did crap his pants last night. Looking back, it does seem like a strange thing to say at that moment. The couple turned back around and headed back in the direction they came from. Dad thought that was weird.

Fast forward about 10 years. Once again, my parents and I ran into that same couple this time in the grocery store. My dad introduced me to them again. This is Tommy my sixth son and eighth child overall. Mom made no effort to correct him this time although I was still their 4th son but now, they had 6 children overall. Mom explained to them that they came into town to pick me up from basketball practice and were stopping by the store to get a few things. The lady said oh, basketball. Do you like it and are you very good. My dad jumped in and said he wasn’t sure if I was any good at basketball but that I had crapped my pants last night. Once again, regardless of if it was true or not this seemed like an odd place to bring this up. Especially there in the frozen food aisle. They just turned around and headed out of the store without buying anything. Dad thought that was weird.

My parents are gone now. I miss them a lot. I remember one of the last times I spoke with my dad. I was visiting him in the hospital. A nurse came in and asked if I was his son. Dad replied that this is Tommy. My seventh son and 9th child overall. I was still his fourth son but now there were seven of us kids in total. The nurse said it was nice to have a son come visit. Dad said he wasn’t sure how nice I was but that I had crapped my pants last night. I just kind of smiled. I mean there’s no way he could have known that and besides, everyone thought I was Tom.