I am writing this line from the sidelines of my daughter’s soccer game during a water break. Many people ask me how I do “this” (the writing thing) given just how “crazy” my life is. Well, I write during halftimes and water breaks. Other days, I write from the bathroom. On good days, I write from the couch. On the most amazing of days, I write from a secluded cabin on a lake in the woods of Maine just like my soul writer Thoreau would have done. Of course, that has happened only once and I don’t even think it produced my best work. Maybe I really just needed the cabin to recharge my batteries so I could produce meaningful words from sidelines or bathroom floors. I write because I like to and it helps me process the too many thoughts I have and the many moments of my days and weeks. I share because I hope this window into my world makes you feel better about your own beautifully messed up world. What other choice do we have but to embrace our miraculous little shit shows?
A parent mentioned last week’s game to me today and it took a full minute for me to recall it. My first instinct was to worry about my cognitive health. Then I remembered just how many transactions have taken place since that day and I realized why my recall was slow. Someone near and dear to me said this week “my soul is tired”; I felt that sentiment to my core. From Dad’s 90th last Saturday to J.D.‘s 14th birthday this weekend all with a seasoning of COVID testing on Friday for Maire (negative) and a spritz of Flonase and a pinch of chewable antihistamines for Isaac who begins to look possessed when the oak trees bloom, I have to say that my soul is tired too. Did I also mention I teach Spanish to teenagers? Yikes is right. Apparently, my soul lives in my brain which is why the Carvel cake pictured above looks as it does. Turns out leaving the cake out for two hours was NOT a good idea. It was a shade above edible and no one seemed to mind. Of course, the audience was 8th grade boys so the expectations were probably low enough to let this snafu slide.
Aside from the ice cream cake debacle, I have to say that getting a big gaggle of about 10 young teen boys squished into two bowling lanes was probably my most questionable move. “Are you prepared for this group around heavy balls?” a Mom asked me. The answer was “no” but I didn’t fully grasp that until said group was hurling those little bowling nuggets down poor Timber Lanes whose soul must also be tired but now serves excellent beer so there’s that. “If your boys are interested, we do bowling instruction on Saturday mornings. This way they can learn and it won’t just be about who can whip the ball down the lane the hardest.” The owner could not have been any nicer, he was so very gracious with all that pubescent testosterone there. He got it, he really did. Do I think these boys will do bowling lessons at 9:30 AM next Saturday? No. Do I think a place where they can celebrate by smashing each other needs to be invented? Yes. Yes please. I say let’s open a ‘hey kids wear this ginormous bubble around yourself and go attack one another’ kind of place. It would be a dang goldmine.
All of the above being said, I have to say that it made my heart so very happy to see my family celebrate Dad’s 90 years on this earth and this group being a bunch of goobers with one another in honor of turning 14. The pandemic took a lot from the old and young. The old aged faster, these kids lost their bridge from childhood to young manhood and that has all come with heavy consequences for everyone involved, including us middle-aged heroes who have weathered this ebb, grow, and flow of life all around us. Were the two big celebrations this week perfect Pinterest birthdays? Nope. Am I happy with and proud of all of it? Absolutely. I wouldn’t change a single thing. I mean, one of my Mom friends even took pictures for me at our bowling night! I am a lucky human, am I not? Imperfections and snafus aside, I got to celebrate life twice this week and grow more in love with the world and others. I finish this piece now on my deck with a beer freshly opened as the sun begins to drop, birds sing to one another, a a lawnmower groans in the distance. I’d say this was a week (and a day) well-lived. I shared this with my boys today, a quote by Emerson that I think sums up the meaning of life in a sentence:
Chaos will always surround us everywhere we go. But, as Brandi Carlisle once said: “You can dance in a hurricane but only if you’re standing in the eye.” Here’s to all of you standing in the eye with me. Sending love to you all❤️