I drove over to the other side of Mannheim road to take Fritz for a haircut. I still take him to PopPop’s barber to keep the tradition alive.
Afterwards, I brought my middle child over to Honey Fluff Donuts for his favorite, a vanilla long john.
We walked in and I heard a “Hey Shep!” To my surprise I saw a dear friend sitting at the counter with his fiancée. We gave each other a huge hug and talked for several minutes.
We reminisced about the trading floor and the characters we encountered. We talked about getting older and we vowed to meet soon for a beer.
When Fritz and I left I told him that God wanted us to get a long john so I could see my friend.
Grampa Don always said a good friend is someone that you haven’t seen in a longtime, but when you do it’s like you were together yesterday. Good friendship should never skip a beat.
Fritz ended up hanging out with his Oldman for the rest of the day. We did what me and my Oldman always did….
…we went for a Saturday drive.
We drove up to Forest Park to get a hotdog at Parky's Hot Dog's. After that we drove along the brick road that runs behind Shanahan's. My dad always took that street after our Saturday lunch at Shanny's. The bricks tapping against the tires made him reminisce about his childhood.
Fritz and I took that same street yesterday and I reminisced about Saturday jaunts with Grampa Don. We even listened to the same Irish program, the swing time jazz show and old time radio show that my dad and I listened to in the last century.
We drove down my old block and stopped in front of the house. The tree my dad planted in the front yard in 1984 is sixty feet tall.
We took the alley and I told Fritz about hide and seek, kick the can and ghost in the graveyard. I showed him the garage where I felt boobies my freshman year of high school.
“Come on dad! I’m not into that stuff yet…….”
“Soon Fritz…. Soon, and if a girl lets you touch her boobs… you walk her home and make her feel like she made the right decision. Make her feel awesome!”
Later that day we went to get George at PopPop and JoJo’s. We ended up getting pizza and JoJo got to hangout with two of her grandsons.
That was my Saturday journey.
I ran into an old friend out of the blue. I drove through my old neighborhood to check up on my parent’s house and Fritz learned about friendship and getting to second base.
Fritz ended up spending the night. When I was tucking him in he told me that he loves me and I gave him my common reply, “All of my heart son, all of my heart.”
Then I went to close his bedroom door, but stuck my head back in…
…. “Hey Fritz!”
“Yeah Dad?”
“First time you touch boob… caress it softly and listen for a sigh…. Oh and… try not to think about me!”
“Come on dad!!!”
Look at that big sun smiling on the Morning Chalkboard. This week brings Passover and the Full Moon. The Cubs are chipping away at a solid start… while the Sox continue to wallow in the mud. Tough times for our Pale Hose.
I hope many of you enjoyed a dreary Saturday with my crock pot and box springs idea.
Go get some fresh air today and be astonished…
…and the girl from the garage on Lombard Avenue. She is someone’s Gramma now.
Life goes by quickly, grab it or caress it while you can!
