Remember When
I went to a birthday party for a guy who turned 50.
I met him when he was 5.
We spent a lot of time at the party doing the 'Remember When' game.
As kids he used to come by our house to play. There were days when he was only there about 20 minutes. We'd start playing, we'd start acting like crazy kids, and he'd be back in the car on the way home.
He talked about getting a chicken leg taken right from his mouth by our boxer dog, Ricky II, I believe.
We laughed at the time he was included in the swats on the ass administered by my grandmother.
There were a whole lot of laughs.
And there was a moment there where he was talking and his voice sounded just the same as it did back when we were 8 or 9. Same inflections, same countenance, same laugh.
Life is strange.
"Can you believe it? Freaking 50?"
"I feel it," he said. "I played ball with the kids last week. Tough moving around."
"Remember when we'd play football and just line up and run straight into each other. The harder we hit one another the more we laughed."
"It'd be tough to take a hit again."
Through the years we'd all taken plenty of hits.
"Remember when your sister was playing her radio too loud and your Dad was trying to nap?"
I'd forgotten that our friend was over when that happened. There were other people around. I was wondering how the story would go over.
"I remember the song that was on the radio," I said.
The other people were waiting for the story.
"Your Dad got out of bed, opened the door, grabbed the clock radio and threw it through the screen, through the 2nd floor window. He hadn't unplugged it yet so it was just hanging there. Your sister's eyes got as big as saucers, and I remember, your Dad laughed as he left the room."
"And Lou Rawls was singing loud and clear. You'll Never Find," I said.
"How old you think we were?" my buddy asked.
"About ten," I guessed.
"And now we're 50."
"Not me," I said. "I still have 13 months."
My buddy thought about it for a moment.
"I hope someday we can sit back and say 'Remember when we were 50?'"
Amen to that.
I met him when he was 5.
We spent a lot of time at the party doing the 'Remember When' game.
As kids he used to come by our house to play. There were days when he was only there about 20 minutes. We'd start playing, we'd start acting like crazy kids, and he'd be back in the car on the way home.
He talked about getting a chicken leg taken right from his mouth by our boxer dog, Ricky II, I believe.
We laughed at the time he was included in the swats on the ass administered by my grandmother.
There were a whole lot of laughs.
And there was a moment there where he was talking and his voice sounded just the same as it did back when we were 8 or 9. Same inflections, same countenance, same laugh.
Life is strange.
"Can you believe it? Freaking 50?"
"I feel it," he said. "I played ball with the kids last week. Tough moving around."
"Remember when we'd play football and just line up and run straight into each other. The harder we hit one another the more we laughed."
"It'd be tough to take a hit again."
Through the years we'd all taken plenty of hits.
"Remember when your sister was playing her radio too loud and your Dad was trying to nap?"
I'd forgotten that our friend was over when that happened. There were other people around. I was wondering how the story would go over.
"I remember the song that was on the radio," I said.
The other people were waiting for the story.
"Your Dad got out of bed, opened the door, grabbed the clock radio and threw it through the screen, through the 2nd floor window. He hadn't unplugged it yet so it was just hanging there. Your sister's eyes got as big as saucers, and I remember, your Dad laughed as he left the room."
"And Lou Rawls was singing loud and clear. You'll Never Find," I said.
"How old you think we were?" my buddy asked.
"About ten," I guessed.
"And now we're 50."
"Not me," I said. "I still have 13 months."
My buddy thought about it for a moment.
"I hope someday we can sit back and say 'Remember when we were 50?'"
Amen to that.
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