Early Celebrants
“Dad? How do box tops give you ten monies?”
Puck was getting ready for school that morning. Earlier, he had been interested in the few box tops collected in the ziplock bag fixed on the fridge. Ten cents a clip sounded intriguing to the second grader.
“Can’t I just have the money for myself?”
After spending a solid hour wrapping a load of Christmas gifts in “repurposed” Whole Foods and Great Harvest paper bags, Mom invited me to join her and Carrie-Bri for a morning in Florissant with Grandma. So I did.
Tootsie (formerly “Sudabeh”) was making herself comfortable meowing on Grandma’s lap when we walked in. A warm and cozy new home, great improvement from the cold porch she had frequented for the first time back in the spring.
So the morning ended up becoming a spontaneous early birthday celebration for me as Grandma pulled out the gifts, wrapped for opening. In addition to a couple of cardinal-themed items, there was a small bronze statue of one of my favorite works of art – “End of the Trail”. Also unwrapped two books upwards of 110 years old once owned by my great-grandmother, gifted to me from my great uncle and great aunt in New Mexico. An early Christmas gift. If anyone in the family is going to appreciate an old book, it’s me, or Rose. Hence our antique book collection.
Followed that up with a panini and chips at the St. Louis Bread Co. Not a bad way to start the old road up to 30.
Puck came bursting out of the gym for pick-up that afternoon. Rather, his Ironman lunch box came bursting out of the gym. Through the air. Snagged it right before it hit my face. Watching all those baseball games has its pay-offs. Technique.
Anyway, because movie night plans hadn’t been fixed for the evening yet, Puck and I returned to the Big House for a few hours. Mom was fixing pork and risotto.
As it turned out, Carrie, Linnea-Irish, and I were the only ones left for movie night. El Oso and Puck had a guys night at home. Joe was working on his bike. Rose was partying it up down at Windows on Washington for the annual company Christmas party. And Francis was at work. So we pulled out boxes of dilly bars from Linnea’s afternoon shift and switched on “Hunger Games: Catching Fire”; mocked it at appropriate levels. Because that’s part of the whole movie night experience.