Today’s quote comes from Fritz Shepley, my middle child. From the moment his little sister was born I’ve referred to him as the glue. Glue holds everything together and that is what Frederick does… he holds it together.
Last night Fritz had an eighth grade dance in the school gym. Parents were asked to stay for the first fifteen minutes. l parked Betty the Green Blazer between the fancy SUV’s and Minivan’s and we walked into the foyer. Fritz was directed to the right and I was directed to the left.
I stood there by myself while all the other eighth grade parents talked amongst themselves. Everyone knew each other and I didn’t know a soul. I didn’t know if I should feel uncomfortable or just lucky that I didn’t have to fake nice and bullshit conversation with people west of Mannheim.
When I lived west of Mannheim my friend base was with the Saint Cletus crowd. I never took the time to meet the other people. Now I’m the divorced dad from Riverside.
So here I am patiently waiting for whatever parent of a graduating student crap was about to happen.
The gym was decorated like a beach and the kids were asked to wear Hawaiian shirts. Fritz had one with bananas on it and a Pizza Planet t-shirt underneath. He looked perfect for the theme.
The DJ started announcing each student and they walked into the gym between two rows of cheering parents…
When I finally heard…. Friiiitz Shepleeeeeee!!!
I saw my middle guy Beastie Boy video his way through the crowd. I was surprised how cool and calm he looked. Later when I asked him how he picked his entrance he replied,
“I was just doing my thing dad! If I’m not bothered, why bother?”
All these entrances…. Nerdy kids, introvert kids, cool kids, weird kids, special needs kids, nervous kids and then MCA from an old hip hop group. This was their moment to show the world who they are starting to become.
Fritz didn’t even see me as he did his intergalactic planetary shuffle into his last dance before high school.
Just my witty little Shepley caught between his always talking big brother and his spoiled little sister.
His quote stuck with me as I thought how awkward I was standing in a room with strangers. I’m not use to that feeling. Fritz was my glue for the evening.
The drive home last night to the East of Mannheim was automatically a good memory for me… Fritz just wanted to get home and make sure Hazel didn’t beat the crap out of George.
