Today is the birthday of one of my favorite people. He's adorable, and sweet, and hopefully will one day be my son-in-law. He's also the son of one of my best friends, and today he turned 10.
Five years ago, when I met Heather and her kids, this one stood out, because my daughter R. immediately went over to play with him. A few months later, he showed up at our house with a necklace and flowers for R. that he had bought himself using money he'd saved from his allowance. They were adorable, and eventually, the R. and A. got "married" on a pile of woodchips in my backyard, with his brother B. presiding. They exchanged flowers, and kissed each other on the cheek, and that was that- these two were inseparable. We joked about watching them when they became teens, and watched little A. get VERY jealous when R's friend S. (who lives most of the year in Poland with his mom, but spends the holidays and every summer here with his dad) came to visit, and divided her attention.
Sometime later, they realized things were moving a bit fast (she was in first grade, he was in second, maybe marriage was something they were ill prepared for), and decided to just be friends. She sang "We Are Never Ever Getting Back Together" by Taylor Swift, and I'm pretty sure E. has a crush on him now (though R. will still turn beet red if you say his name).
Because of the close friendship these kids all retain, and their shared history going back over half their lives, we had to wish him a happy birthday. After a LOT of swim time at my mom's, we called Heather on our way home to check on stopping by (it was dinner time after all), and got an enthusiastic "Swing over! Jamie's bringing R. and M. by in about ten minutes."
We pulled over across from the rubble heap (that still has not been touched since being torn down), and the girls practically sprinted to the backyard. While A. and B. swam in their new backyard pool, R. and E. yelled "Happy Birthday!" and chatted, in an appropriately socially distanced way, with their sister L. The littlest in Heather's crew, her almost-three-year-old daughter, ran around pantsless in a dress because "potty training" (moms everywhere nod their head in understanding).Heather and I also got to catch up, and Jamie walked over with her son M., who stood on the ladder of the pool for a while, and eventually was semi-pushed by Jamie into the water, where he laughingly got back up, and goaded her to push him again. Jamie's other son R. swam around with the boys, and I snapped a few photos, thinking "it is so good to feel normal for the first time in a long time." It also helps that Governor Murphy lifted the "stay at home" order today, which is a huge step in returning to normal.
Normal for us is hanging out on Jamie's front lawn while the kids run around, laughing while Jamie and Heather drink wine or beer or White Claw and I take photos of the kids. While it's not exactly the same (the girls aren't trying to catch A., because social distancing), it's still them all together. We have photos going back to that first summer, and while I joke that someday, they will be shown at the kids' weddings, it's not too far fetched. I met Jeff for the first time in elementary school, so why not? We could even have R. and A. stand on a pile of wood chips as a testament to their first go-round.
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