![](\"https:\/\/cdn.prod.dailykos.com\/images\/1324880\/large\/TabletopHockey.jpeg?1721700120\")
It was the middle of March about two weeks before my birthday, but it still seemed like winter outside, even though there was hardly any snow left on the ground.<\/p>\nIt was the middle of March about two weeks before my birthday, but it still seemed like winter outside, even though there was hardly any snow left on the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou know Coolie\u201d, mom said as she rubbed a white cloth on the shiny top of the round table in the living room, \u201cYour tenth birthday\u2019s coming up, and I think I\u2019m at a point where I\u2019m ready to have a real party in this place.\u201d She looked around the room. \u201cOur lonely little Herman Miller chest and Windsor chair from our old living room FINALLY have a lot of company. Thanks to all your dad and I\u2019ve been able to do, we now have this round table, the rectangular table and the square coffee table in the sitting room, the overstuffed rocking chair, the deacon\u2019s bench, the love seat, and a couple nice end tables.\u201d<\/p>\n
She ran her fingers along the top of one of the four metal chairs around the round table, made up of thin white tubes crisscrossing to form a grid that curved to form both the bottom and the back part. \u201cAnd we got that great deal on these four Bertoia Side Chairs at the Treasure Mart. That was one of the best days ever.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we should have a big party in the house for your tenth birthday\u201d, she said, \u201cThat\u2019s a real milestone, and we should celebrate in style. You\u2019re really not a child anymore. You know that, don\u2019t you?\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded, but also thought about that. I never liked that \u201cchild\u201d word. When people used it, grownups OR kids, they usually meant it was something bad, like you were stupid or didn\u2019t know how to do things right or were \u201cwhining\u201d all the time.<\/p>\n
\u201cYou\u2019re really a young man now\u201d, she said, holding her hands out toward me and making her biggest smile. \u201cLook at you sweetie. Good looking. Good at sports. Smart at school. SO well spoken when you want to be. Your brother, and the other kids on the street look up to you. Your school friends care about you. Your dad and I are SO proud of you!\u201d<\/p>\n
I wasn\u2019t sure what to say. I wanted mom and dad to think I was a really good kid so they wouldn\u2019t try to be in charge of me. Still sometimes she\u2019d get mad at me because I wouldn\u2019t remember to do my \u201cchore\u201d and take out the trash, or I wouldn\u2019t be nice to my brother. It made me feel like she thought she was smarter than I was and even better than I was because she seemed like she was always right and I was wrong.<\/p>\n
Since I hadn\u2019t said anything yet, I could tell she was trying to figure out how to get me to say what I thought of all that stuff.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo how does turning ten feel to you?\u201d she asked, \u201cIs it special or just another birthday?\u201d I turned to look at her face as she looked into my eyes and hers opened wide, as if she was asking, \u201cWell?\u201d I really didn\u2019t like telling grownups what I was thinking about hard questions like that and the things I was always worrying about that made those kinds of questions hard, not even her or dad.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know, I guess so\u201d, I said, \u201cBut what about a party in the park like we usually did back at Allmendinger?\u201d She shook her head slowly.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy intuition tells me Mother Nature is not going to warm things up in time for your birthday this year\u201d, she said, \u201cIt\u2019s past the middle of March and we haven\u2019t had a day yet that feels remotely like even the hint of spring.\u201d I guess she was right AS usual.<\/p>\n
\u201cFor your special birthday\u201d, she said, \u201cLet\u2019s have a big party here in our new house with all our refurbished furniture. Invite lots of kids AND adults, like Molly\u2019s birthday parties back in their house on Prescott across the street. All the people who\u2019ve been part of your life. What do you think?\u201d I didn\u2019t say anything, thinking.<\/p>\n
She always thought she had the best ideas on what to do. But if I couldn\u2019t think of any better ideas and tell them to her instead, she was probably right as usual.<\/p>\n
\u201cI mean it\u2019s YOUR party Coolie\u201d, she said, \u201cWe won\u2019t do it if you don\u2019t want to.\u201d She wanted me to talk to her like I was another grownup, but I didn\u2019t feel like I was ready to do that. It did sound kind of neat though.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d, I said, but that sounded like a stupid kid.<\/p>\n
She always did this. She would spend all this time thinking up a really good idea and then tell me and let me decide if I had a better idea. But I HADN\u2019T been thinking about it like she had, so even though I might not like HER idea, I hadn\u2019t had time to think up any better ideas of my own.<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess so\u201d, I said. What I said still sounded stupid.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe can invite lots of your friends\u201d, she said, \u201cFrom the old neighborhood and your old school, and from our new neighborhood and your new school.\u201d She got a pencil and that pad of yellow lined paper she liked to write on. \u201cLet\u2019s make a list!\u201d Mom was always making lists.<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t want to sound like a kid who didn\u2019t know anything anymore, a kid where she had to do all the work for me, so I said, \u201cI can make a list and give it to you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay then\u201d, she said, and her eyes opened up wide like she was surprised I was going to do it myself, \u201cGreat idea, but I need it pretty soon.\u201d<\/p>\n
She carefully ripped off the top sheet of the yellow pad and gave it to me with the pencil. I took them and went upstairs to the office and put them on dad\u2019s old desk, which I guess was all our desk now, since he had his own desk at his work office. I figured I should just do the list now and give it to her so she didn\u2019t keep asking me if I\u2019d done it yet.<\/p>\n
So I made a list. I wrote it like Abby\u2019s notes, in printed letters instead of cursive and with large words for each kind of friend and then smaller words under it with each name of the friend who was that kind.<\/p>\n
Under \u201cNew School\u201d I put Mike, Andy and Arthur, but not Billy, Gil or Teddy. I figured I could only have one group of my new school friends at the party, because each thought the other group wasn\u2019t as good, and Mike, Andy and Arthur seemed more like older kids like I wanted to be than the \u201cBilly Boyds\u201d. And if I had friends come from my old school – like Herbie, Gabe and Amanda – I was worried Mike, Andy and Arthur might think THEY were more like younger kids too. We all seemed so much younger last year when I would hang out with them at recess at school or in Allmendinger Park.<\/p>\n
Under \u201cOld Neighborhood\u201d I put Marybeth and Danny, because they were older, and I figured that Mike, Andy and Arthur would think it was pretty neat that I had older friends, even if one was a girl. I also put Paul, because he was my second best friend, but not Kenny, because they would think he was more like a little kid. Under \u201cNew Neighborhood\u201d I put Steve and Vincent, who both lived on our new street, even though they were a little younger than I was. I also put Jake, who had been my friend at my old school, but who had moved to my new neighborhood even though he went to that different \u201cAngell\u201d school instead of Burns Park.<\/p>\n
Under \u201cOther\u201d I put Molly of course, because she was still my best friend, and I put Ricky, because he was an older kid too and everybody thought he was pretty neat.<\/p>\n
I ran down the stairs and gave the list to mom like I really knew what I was doing.<\/p>\n
She took it and looked at it and made kind of a pretend surprised face and said, \u201cWow\u2026 This is a nicely done list.\u201d I nodded, and felt even more like a big kid, and thought, \u201cSee mom, I don\u2019t need your help anymore!\u201d<\/p>\n
Then she read it and said, \u201cSo none of your school friends from Bach except Jake?\u201d I shook my head. \u201cOkay\u201d, she said, like she wasn\u2019t sure it was really okay.<\/p>\n
\u201cI also think if you\u2019re inviting Steve you should invite his sister Abby\u201d, she said, \u201cIf for no other reason than Molly will have another girl her age at the party. She\u2019s ten years old like you are, and I get the feeling from talking to her mom that she\u2019s not as much of a Tomboy as she used to be. And I think if you invite Marybeth, you pretty much have to invite Hannah too.\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded. Inviting Hannah was okay, because she was just a little kid like my brother. But Abby was a girl in my class at school, and I was worried that Mike, Andy or Arthur might think that she was my girlfriend, or one of the other kids at the party might think that. Or Billy, Gil or Teddy might find out she came to my party and tease me about her being my girlfriend. But now that I\u2019d already nodded, mom would think it was okay to invite Abby too, and I\u2019d have to tell her that it wasn\u2019t, but then she\u2019d want me to tell her why and I didn\u2019t want to do that. I guess Abby would come and hopefully just talk to Molly and Marybeth a lot.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd of course\u201d, mom said, \u201cI\u2019m going to invite all the parents of the friends you invited, which is how I\u2019ve always done your birthday parties. And family friends who know you like your dad\u2019s friends Frank and Walter, and Eddie\u2019s parents Idi and Zelda, and of course Eddie too. I figure we\u2019ll start at one o\u2019clock so people won\u2019t expect us to serve lunch. Just snacks. Chips and dips and that sort of thing.\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded. I was used to having a bunch of grownups at my birthday parties. It kept mom and dad busy so they didn\u2019t worry about what me and the other kids were doing.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd I\u2019d also like to invite one more person\u201d, mom said, \u201cI met her at a cocktail party last night in support of university professors who are organizing to oppose the War in Vietnam. Her name\u2019s Maryjane, and we just hit it off. I hope you don\u2019t mind Coolie.\u201d<\/p>\n
I nodded. The more grownups she had to talk to the less she\u2019d be worrying about what all us kids were doing at the party.<\/p>\n
I had been to my new friend Mike\u2019s birthday party in February, at his house, and besides some kids from school and even some older kids, there were lots of grownups there that were like college \u201cprofessors\u201d like dad, and they were all talking about politics stuff and that Vietnam War. I figured when Mike and his friends came to MY party, they would see a lot of grownups like that too and he\u2019d think I was pretty neat like him.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
The day of the party it was cold outside like mom figured it would be. Molly came first with her mom and stepdad. She gave me a wrapped present that looked and sounded like a big tube of Tinker Toys, and I put it on the big table in the sitting room part of the living room, where mom said all the presents should go. They came early so Molly\u2019s mom could help in the kitchen get all the snacks and the drinks ready. She breathed out air loudly and said, \u201cJane it\u2019s been way too long. With our move across town, Larry\u2019s work politics and Molly\u2019s new school, we\u2019ve just been crazy busy!\u201d<\/p>\n
Molly\u2019s stepdad shook dad\u2019s hand and said, \u201cEric, I hear you\u2019re full time faculty at Eastern now. Maybe you can tell me all the gory details and can swap stories while the girls are busy in the kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTHIS GIRL wants to hear all those gory details too, Larry\u201d, Molly\u2019s mom said, \u201cYou’re not the only one with dreams of academia dancing in your head! Maybe you can HELP Jane and I in the kitchen while Eric regales us all on the lay of the land in the English department at Eastern.\u201d<\/p>\n
They hadn\u2019t seen our new house, not even Molly, so mom asked me to give them a tour. I showed them every place in the house, even the old coal closet in the basement, AND the attic. When we got to David’s and my room, David was sitting on his bed drawing and listening to the Beatles records on the record player. Molly ran and jumped on the other bed, my bed, landing on her bottom and looking at David.<\/p>\n
\u201cHey Wavy Davy\u201d, she said, that was a nickname she used to call him, \u201cHow\u2019s your big brother treating you?\u201d With me and her mom and dad standing there looking at him, I could tell David didn\u2019t know what to say.<\/p>\n
\u201cUh, okay I guess\u201d, he said, like he wasn\u2019t sure.<\/p>\n
\u201cMolly Wheeler\u201d, her mom said kind of laughing, \u201cWhere are your manners young lady?\u201d<\/p>\n
When I finished the tour all four grownups went into the kitchen to help get stuff ready. Molly and I sat on the metal wire chairs at the round table in the living room.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis house is a lot bigger than your old house\u201d, she said, \u201cThe attic is really neat but the basement isn\u2019t as good.\u201d I nodded. She was right.<\/p>\n
\u201cRemember my attic bedroom at our Prescott house, across the street from your house?\u201d she asked, and I nodded again. \u201cThat was the best place in the whole world. I could see your house down below across the street and even could see when you were climbing in the spruce trees in the backyard, remember?\u201d I nodded. I remembered.<\/p>\n
Then she moved her head close to mine and looked into my eyes and said quietly now, \u201cRemember all the crazy stuff we did up there?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYep\u201d, I said quietly too, nodding. I wondered if she just meant all the pretending, or if she meant that time we got naked with each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were just little kids that didn\u2019t know any better\u201d, she said even more quietly, then after thinking for a moment, \u201cBut it was a lot of fun. I remember every second, don\u2019t you?\u201d I nodded. I DID remember every second too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe didn\u2019t know any better\u201d, she said again quietly, \u201cI never told anybody about it, did you?\u201d<\/p>\n
I got worried because I remembered that I had told two older boys in Allmendinger Park that one time, but I only told them that I got naked with a girl, not who it was, and since they didn\u2019t know me they wouldn\u2019t know it was probably Molly because she was my best friend. I was learning that it was easier not to tell people the truth all the time, but I didn\u2019t want to do that with Molly.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell\u201d, I said quietly, \u201cI did tell two older boys in Allmendinger Park like four years ago but I didn\u2019t tell them who it was I did it with and they didn\u2019t know me, so they didn\u2019t know you were my best friend so it was probably you.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHmm\u201d, she said, thinking about that, \u201cThat\u2019s probably okay. You didn\u2019t tell anyone else, right?\u201d I nodded.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
The next people who came were Paul, Marybeth, Hannah and Paul\u2019s mom, who also came early to help mom in the kitchen.<\/p>\n
Paul\u2019s mom looked around the living room and said, \u201cWow Jane, posh Burns Park and all this furniture in the living room. You got your wish but I won\u2019t ask how.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mom laughed and said, \u201cA Lot of garage sales, strypeeze, elbow grease, Eric\u2019s carpentry and re-upholstery, linseed oil, paint, and luck, I guess.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell you did it lady\u201d, she said, \u201cJane, I doubt there is anything you can\u2019t do when you put your mind to it. Oh and Dill sends his regards and regrets, he had another thing today.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paul and Hannah were carrying wrapped presents and gave them to me. I put each one on the big table in the sitting room part of the living room, next to Molly\u2019s present. Hannah asked me where David was, and when I told her, she looked at her big sister, who nodded, and then headed up the stairs.<\/p>\n
Molly and I took Marybeth and Paul\u2019s mom on the tour of our house, including the basement and ending up in the attic. Paul had already been to my new house but he came along anyway. Marybeth agreed with Molly that the attic was really neat, even though it was all wood, didn\u2019t have regular walls or ceiling, and was cold. While we were up there she asked me if Danny was coming to the party and I said I thought so.<\/p>\n
Then once it was one o\u2019clock, lots of people started coming. All the friends I had invited came, except for Jake, most of them with either their mom or dad. Molly, Paul and I gave each new bunch of people the tour, from the basement to the attic. All the kids thought the attic was really neat, but not the grownups, because it was cold.<\/p>\n
When mom\u2019s new friend Maryjane came she brought two of her kids with her. Zeke was my age and Gordon was David\u2019s. When Molly, Paul and I gave them the tour and we got to David\u2019s and my room, Marybeth was sitting on my bed and David was still on his bed drawing with Hannah sitting next to him watching him draw. The stack of Beatles records were still playing on the record player. Maryjane\u2019s eyes twinkled and she made a big smile and said, \u201cThe younger generation recharging in acoustic space.\u201d Zeke and Gordon rolled their eyes and the rest of us looked at her wondering what she meant. Hannah told everyone that David was drawing \u201ccomic book guys\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cReally\u201d, said Zeke, \u201cWe\u2019ll be back\u201d, and after the tour finished in the attic he and his brother came down the attic stairs and went back into David\u2019s and my room.<\/p>\n
When Molly, Paul and I got back downstairs, a whole bunch of people had come. Arthur had come with Mike and Mike\u2019s dad, and Andy had come with his mom. Eddie had come with both his mom and dad. Dad\u2019s friends Walter and Frank had come too. There were now a whole bunch of presents stacked up on the big table in the sitting room, which was really neat. Because there were so many people now, mom said I should just give the kids the tour for now. Eddie had been in our house many times, so he just wanted to know where David was, and headed upstairs when I told him. My three friends from school, Mike, Andy and Arthur, followed me down into the basement. When we got to the bottom of the stairs Mike looked around.<\/p>\n
\u201cYep\u201d, he said, \u201cLooks like a basement.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then he saw the tabletop hockey game on the old white table with the metal legs and said, \u201cOh wow Coop, you didn\u2019t tell us you had a tabletop hockey set. We\u2019d have been over long ago if we knew! Do you mind if we skip the rest of the tour?\u201d I nodded my head.<\/p>\n
Then he looked at Molly and Paul and said, \u201cBy the way, I\u2019m Mike\u201d, and he stuck out his hand for Paul to shake it, \u201cYou don\u2019t look familiar.\u201d<\/p>\n
Paul shook his hand, looked up at him and said, \u201cI\u2019m Paul. You look really tall!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah\u201d, said Mike, seeming a little bit shy, \u201cEverybody says that.\u201d<\/p>\n
Then he looked at Molly, stuck out his hand and said, \u201cYOU kind of look familiar.\u201d<\/p>\n
Molly shook his hand and said, \u201cI remember you from the soccer games before school. You always played goalie.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWere you one of those girls that played on our team against the sixth graders?\u201d Mike asked her. Molly made a big smile and nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cUntil that one sixth grade kid figured out we were girls and kept telling us we didn\u2019t belong there\u201d, Molly said to him.<\/p>\n
\u201cClem?\u201d Mike asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah Clem\u201d, Molly said, \u201cHe was a dickhead.\u201d I was surprised she said a swear word like that, but I didn\u2019t say anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe WAS\u201d, said Mike, laughing while he said it.<\/p>\n
Ricky came down the stairs. I hadn\u2019t seen him in a couple years. He was wearing a hat that some grownup men wore in those old movies on TV sometimes.<\/p>\n
\u201cCiao ladies and gents\u201d, he said, touching a finger to the brim of his hat, \u201cI\u2019m on a not so secret mission from the lady of the house to rouse the birthday boy to ascend the stairs and greet more of his arriving guests.\u201d<\/p>\n
Mike, Andy and Arthur just looked at him trying to figure out what he was all about.<\/p>\n
Molly looked at them and said, \u201cHe\u2019s just Ricky. He likes to talk funny like that.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMolly, Molly, Molly\u201d, Ricky said, \u201cYou cut me to the quick.\u201d Then he looked at Mike, Andy and Arthur and said, \u201cHumorous Ricardo\u201d, touching his hat with his finger again as he bowed his head, \u201cAt your service. You are?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMike\u201d, Mike said, sticking out his hand toward Ricky, who grabbed and shook it.<\/p>\n
\u201cAH\u201d, said Ricky, \u201cA hardy handshake, a good man.\u201d Andy and Arthur said their names and shook his hand too.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy task completed\u201d, he said, \u201cI shall bid you all arrivederci.\u201d Ricky turned and headed back up the stairs.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour sister\u2019s not here is she?\u201d Molly called out to him. He stopped on a stair for a moment, still looking forward he shook his head and then continued back up into the kitchen.<\/p>\n
Andy looked at me and asked, \u201cSo how do you know THAT guy?\u201d<\/p>\n
I was starting to walk up the stairs. I wasn\u2019t sure what to say. I wondered if they thought Ricky was weird.<\/p>\n
Molly could tell I was trying to figure out what to say but was having trouble. She said to Andy, \u201cRicky\u2019s mom and my mom are good friends. He\u2019s been coming to my birthday parties since I was little, and some of Coop\u2019s too.\u201d<\/p>\n
As I walked up the stairs I heard Mike ask Molly, \u201cHow long have you and Coop known each other?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were best friends since we were three\u201d, I heard Molly tell him as I went around the corner up into the kitchen.<\/p>\n
\u201cWow\u201d, I heard Mike say, and I wondered if he, Andy and Arthur might think she was my girlfriend or something.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere he is\u201d, mom said, as she and Paul\u2019s mom put tiny little hot dogs into soft mounds of spongy white stuff on a big metal tray, \u201cThe Nazars and the Allards are here, also Danny and Lennice. You should go out and say hello.\u201d It hit me that mom was trying to be in charge of me at my own birthday party. But Paul\u2019s and Molly\u2019s moms were in the kitchen too so I didn\u2019t say anything. I walked through the kitchen doorway into the living room.<\/p>\n
Eddie\u2019s mom looked down at me with her big smile though she kept her lips closed so I couldn\u2019t see her teeth. \u201cCooper. Ten years old. Such a milestone!\u201d she said. I looked at Ricky who was standing off to the side watching us. He would have a good thing to say to that. But he just looked at me and made his eyes big.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s your line, kid!\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
Eddie\u2019s dad laughed and wagged his finger at Ricky and said, \u201cYou are a very funny young man son. Have you ever thought about being a comedian?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cIf I had a nickel for everytime someone asked me that\u201d, Ricky said, \u201cI\u2019d regret I didn\u2019t have a dollar for each time!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHa ha\u201d, said Eddie\u2019s dad to Ricky, then he looked at me and asked, \u201cDoes it feel different being ten?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI guess so\u201d, I said. I usually didn\u2019t say more than something like that when grownups asked me that kind of question. Dad and his friend Frank stopped talking on the couch and turned to look at me for my answer, along with mom\u2019s new friend Maryjane over in the middle of the living room. I thought what I had already said made me look like a stupid kid to them and I didn\u2019t want them to think that, so I figured I had to say something better.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt\u2019s hard to figure out\u201d, I said, \u201cThere are so many new things for me. A new school. A new park. A new house with new furniture. New friends. Everything\u2019s different, so it\u2019s hard to tell if I\u2019M different too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell said\u201d, said Eddie\u2019s dad, nodding slowly, \u201cWell said.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYes\u201d, said Eddie\u2019s mom, nodding as well.<\/p>\n
\u201cYes. I\u2019ll second that. Very well said\u201d, said dad\u2019s friend Frank. Then he looked at dad and said, \u201cYour son\u2019s not a child anymore, Eric.\u201d<\/p>\n
Dad looked at me, grinned, shook his head slowly and his eyes sparkled, looking just a little bit like he could cry but then rubbed his eyes with his fingers. I thought about what Frank said. I had NEVER thought I was a \u201cchild\u201d, but I did feel like an \u201colder kid\u201d now, and my new friends seemed like older kids too.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ll second that too\u201d, said Abby and Steve\u2019s mom, who was standing behind Eddie\u2019s mom and dad. Abby was there next to her, holding a wrapped present and looking around at all the people. She looked at me and waved like she did when she saw me walking home from school. I waved back, but just a little bit.<\/p>\n
She walked up to me and held out the present and said, \u201cHappy birthday, Cooper. I hope you like it. I picked it out especially for you. I hope you don\u2019t already have it.\u201d Its shape looked like one of those record albums. I noticed mom in the kitchen and she made a face like I should say something.<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks Abby\u201d, I said.<\/p>\n
She nodded. Mom winked at me. I put the present on the big table with all the other ones. I got excited seeing them all there, just like when I was a little kid. I still REALLY liked getting presents!<\/p>\n
I could tell Abby and Steve didn\u2019t know what to do now. Steve looked around and asked, \u201cAre there any other kids here?\u201d, like it was weird that it was just grownups. I really didn\u2019t want him to think that. I wanted him to think my party was really neat.<\/p>\n
\u201cThere are lots of kids here\u201d, I said, \u201cA bunch of kids from school down in the basement and my brother and his friends up in our bedroom upstairs.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAre there any other girls here?\u201d asked Abby, like she was worried she was the only one and she wasn\u2019t going to like my party.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh yeah\u201d, I said, nodding really fast, \u201cMy best friend Molly is down in the basement and my brother\u2019s friend Hannah is up in our bedroom with her older sister Marybeth.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYour best friend is a GIRL?\u201d she asked, \u201cI figured you didn\u2019t even like talking to girls. Who else is down there from school?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMike, Andy and Arthur\u201d, I said. She thought about that and nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhich way to the basement?\u201d she asked, and I pointed into the kitchen. She walked into the kitchen followed by her brother. Mom pointed the way down the stairs.<\/p>\n
Danny\u2019s mom came up to me. \u201cHappy birthday young man. I haven\u2019t seen you since whenever it was last fall, you are certainly looking grown up. TEN YEARS OLD\u2026 OH MY GOSH!\u201d Standing there around the other grownups, it made me kind of embarrassed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere\u2019s Danny?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell\u201d, she said, \u201cRicky whispered something in his ear and they both headed upstairs. Is that where all the kids are?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMy brother and his friends are upstairs\u201d, I said, \u201cMost of the older kids are in the basement.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHunh\u201d, she said, \u201cWell I see your dad over on the couch and I\u2019ll just mosey over and say hello and then see if your mom needs help in the kitchen.\u201d<\/p>\n
In another part of the living room, mom\u2019s new friend Maryjane was talking to dad\u2019s friend Walter and this really big grownup that I figured must be Mike\u2019s dad.<\/p>\n
\u201cPatriarchy\u201d, she said, \u201cYou guys haven\u2019t heard of it before. Well, as academics up on all the latest trends you better keep yourselves up to date. Patriarchy is a social system where men hold a disproportionate amount of power and privilege, and gender inequality is structured between men and women. Sound vaguely familiar? The term comes from the Greek word which means “rule of the father.”<\/p>\n
I looked at her and her eyes caught mine and she winked at me.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah, yeah\u201d, said Walter, \u201cI know my Greek.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo what\u2019s your point here?\u201d asked Mike\u2019s dad.<\/p>\n
\u201cIn a patriarchal society\u201d, she said, \u201cMen control social, economic, political, and religious power, and inheritance passes down through the male line. Attributes that are considered \u2018feminine\u2019 are undervalued, while those that are considered \u2018masculine\u2019 are privileged.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo what are we talking about here\u201d, said Walter, \u201cWith all due respect, that\u2019s the way it\u2019s always been since the days when we all lived in caves. It\u2019s just human nature.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cUnh uh\u201d, she said, \u201cWith all due respect as well, I\u2019m not buying that. Are you two familiar with the Kurgan Hypothesis?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve heard of it\u201d, said Mike\u2019s dad, \u201cBut I\u2019m not familiar with the details.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWell\u201d, said Maryjane, \u201cThe theory goes that small bands of militant pastoralists, animal herders that is, aided by the domestication of the horse and its use in warfare, some 5000 years ago migrated west from the Steppes region north of the Black Sea, imposed themselves on more peaceful, more egalitarian tribes, setting themselves up as a ruling male elite.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cOkay\u201d, said Mike\u2019s dad, though it didn\u2019t sound like he was okay with what she was saying.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Kurgan culture of male supremacy\u201d, she said \u201cRather than the natural order of human affairs, was an \u2018innovation\u2019 let\u2019s call it, to human culture which for 200,000 years had been egalitarian and not male dominated.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI think I need another Bloody Mary\u201d, said Mike\u2019s dad.<\/p>\n
\u201cMe too\u201d, said Walter, and as he walked by me, he looked at me, grinned, and shook his head.<\/p>\n
I heard mom\u2019s voice talking. Hers always stuck out in a room full of other grownup voices. Not that hers was louder, but that it was calm but fierce.<\/p>\n
\u201cI saw that on the news, Joan\u201d, she said, \u201cAnd yes, I\u2019m very concerned. Eric, you\u2019re still in the army reserves. If Congress has authorized sending nearly 200,000 U.S. soldiers to Vietnam, could you be called up somehow?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know Liz\u201d, dad said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI read there\u2019s a deferment for married men with children\u201d, said Dad\u2019s friend Frank, \u201cAt least for now.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat I\u2019m really worried about are our young men\u201d, said Molly\u2019s mom, \u201cOur kids graduating from high school, drafted to be sent off to fight and maybe die in some southeast asian jungle. Frank, Eric, your students too.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAgain\u201d, said Frank, \u201cI think there is currently a deferment for young men in college. At least for now.\u201d<\/p>\n
Wow, I thought. All us boys in the park had always pretended we were soldiers and thought that we might have to be REAL soldiers if there was that \u201cWorld War Three\u201d. But now some older boys who were Margie\u2019s age, or those students in dad\u2019s classes, might have to be real soldiers in that Vietnam place.<\/p>\n
I heard Danny\u2019s mom\u2019s voice from the kitchen. \u201cMy Danny\u2019s just turned fourteen. By sixty eight he\u2019d qualify for the draft. I\u2019m not saying he shouldn\u2019t serve his country, like you fellas did in World War Two, but fighting in some small backward country halfway around the world, it doesn\u2019t feel right.\u201d<\/p>\n
Danny\u2019s mom had said that he\u2019d gone upstairs. I decided to go up there to check on everyone up there. At the top of the stairway I saw Ricky leaning against the wall at the end of the upstairs hallway between the bathroom door, which was open, and the office door, which was closed.<\/p>\n
\u201cYour bedroom is where it\u2019s all happening, birthday boy\u201d, Ricky said, still wearing his hat.<\/p>\n
I walked towards him and asked, \u201cWhy\u2019s the office door closed?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat can I say\u201d, he said, \u201cSome personal business is being taken care of in there. Nothing you need to worry about. Maybe you\u2019ll understand when you\u2019re fourteen like we are.\u201d I couldn\u2019t figure out what he was talking about. Who was in there and who was \u201cwe\u201d?<\/p>\n
So I went into our bedroom. David, Hannah and Eddie were all sitting on David\u2019s bed and that Maryjane\u2019s kids were sitting on my bed looking at pieces of paper. The Beatles were playing on the record player\u2026<\/p>\n
So I’m telling you, my friend
\nThat I’ll get you, I’ll get you in the end
\nYes, I will, I’ll get you in the end<\/p><\/blockquote>\nThe older of her kids said, \u201cDavid, your drawings are really good. I can never finish my own.\u201d Then he stopped talking and looked at me in the doorway to the room.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhere\u2019s Danny and Marybeth?\u201d I asked. They all looked at me, made faces, and shook their heads like they didn\u2019t know.<\/p>\n
The older kid said, \u201cYou must be Cooper. Happy birthday! I\u2019m Zeke and this is my brother Gordon. We\u2019re Maryjane\u2019s progeny.\u201d I wasn\u2019t sure what \u201cprogeny\u201d meant, but I figured he was saying she was their mom.<\/p>\n
That other Gordon kid next to him nodded his head, smiled, and said, \u201cThat we are. That we are. And a second happy birthday from me too!\u201d David, Eddie and Hannah all said \u201chappy birthday\u201d too.<\/p>\n
\u201cHow old are you?\u201d that Gordon kid asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cTen\u201d, I said.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh wow\u201d, he said, \u201cYou\u2019re pretty old!\u201d<\/p>\n
I couldn\u2019t remember anyone ever saying that to me before. I went back out the doorway and looked at Ricky at the end of the hallway.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo Danny and Marybeth are in the office?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cGood guess Sherlock\u201d, he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat are they doing?\u201d I asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t know\u201d, he said, \u201cI\u2019m not Superman. I don\u2019t have x-ray vision. Would be fun though.\u201d<\/p>\n
It hit me that maybe they liked each other, like boyfriend girlfriend liked each other, and were doing \u201ckissyface\u201d stuff, though that sounded like such a stupid little kid word. Older kids would say \u201cmaking out\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cAre they\u2026\u201d, I asked, but couldn\u2019t say the last two words.<\/p>\n
\u201cWho knows\u2026 maybe\u201d, he said, \u201cIf you were in there with Molly would you want me to be telling passers-by what you guys were doing? Golden Rule, kid! Golden Rule!\u201d<\/p>\n
I was suddenly really embarrassed and couldn\u2019t even look at Ricky anymore. Maybe I thought about doing stuff like that with Molly but I didn\u2019t want anyone else thinking about it, specially Ricky. I decided I better go back downstairs and see what was happening in the basement.<\/p>\n
When I came down the stairs all the grownups were crowded into the sitting room part of the living room, and the other parts were empty.<\/p>\n
I heard Molly\u2019s mom say, \u201cJane, with passage of the Civil Rights Act, politics in this country WILL be turned upside down, no doubt about that. If some of those Southern Dixiecrats become Republicans, that\u2019s a price that needs to be paid. Goldwater said \u2018you can\u2019t legislate morality\u2019, but dammit, what the hell ARE we legislating if not the ethics of fairness.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHear, hear\u201d, said Paul\u2019s mom, and lots of other people were saying stuff like they agreed.<\/p>\n
\u201cI take your point, Joan\u201d, mom said, seeing me standing at the bottom of the stairs looking at her, \u201cI just always fret about maintaining the political majority for progress going forward. I\u2019d hate to see some clever Republican politician take advantage of this situation to kick the Democrats out of the White House in 1968 for all the wrong reasons.\u201d<\/p>\n
Maryjane was standing by the bottom of the stairway, listening to the discussion. She saw me, did her big smile and said, \u201cYour mama\u2019s holding forth. She\u2019s really something!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd there\u2019s our birthday boy\u201d, mom said, still looking at me from the far end of the sitting room. Her voice sounded different, like it was fierce but also too friendly at the same time.<\/p>\n
I\u2019d heard other grownups talk that way at parties when they were drinking drinks with alcohol in them. All the other grownups turned to look at me. They all looked too happy like mom did. I wished Ricky was down here to say something funny to make everybody laugh, but I was the only kid in the living room, and I never liked it when a bunch of grownups looked at me and expected me to say something. I had said something earlier and all the grownups that heard it really liked it, so maybe they were expecting me to do that again, but I couldn\u2019t think at all, except about what Marybeth and Danny might be doing upstairs in the office.<\/p>\n
I finally stopped thinking about that and figured, if nothing else, I could say thank you. Grownups always liked it when kids said thank you to them, even though the bad part was it also made them think they were in charge of you. But I had to say something or they\u2019d think that, even though I was ten, I was still a stupid little kid.<\/p>\n
\u201cThanks everybody for coming to my party\u201d, I said, and they all smiled and most of them nodded too.<\/p>\n
Eddie\u2019s dad held up his plastic glass with that Bloody Mary stuff in it and said, \u201cTo Cooper. May your second ten years be even better than your first!\u201d I knew from other parties that that was one of those \u201ctoasts\u201d. They all raised their glasses filled with that thick red liquid. I didn\u2019t know what to say, or even do with my face, so I made myself smile, but it didn\u2019t feel like a real smile so I figured it probably didn\u2019t look like one either.<\/p>\n
Not able to think of anything else, I said that word again, \u201cThanks\u201d, and I nodded my head. Then I said, \u201cI gotta go downstairs and check on my friends down there\u201d, like I used to tell mom and dad when I had to go to the bathroom.<\/p>\n
I quickly went through the kitchen and started down the stairs back into the basement. I heard the clunking and swishing noises of the tabletop hockey game and Mike\u2019s voice.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo you think the Red Wings will beat the Black Hawks tomorrow and go on to win the series and the Stanley Cup?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cHell yeah\u201d, said Andy, \u201cThey\u2019ve got the home field advantage.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cTrue\u201d, said Mike, \u201cBut with all due respect to Gordie Howe, Bobby Hull and Stan Mikita are a great one two punch for Chicago.\u201d<\/p>\n
When I got to the bottom of the stairs I could see that Molly and Abby were controlling the players on the blue team and Andy and Arthur were controlling the red ones. Mike and Paul were watching on either side of the white table with the metal legs that the hockey set was set up on.<\/p>\n
Mike saw me and said, \u201cThe girls are pretty good considering neither of them have ever played real hockey.\u201d But then looking at Abby he said to her, \u201cBut I\u2019ve seen you skate over in the park. You\u2019re pretty good, and you can even skate backward.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve seen you and Andy play hockey\u201d, she said, \u201cBut all you guys wouldn\u2019t let me play even if I wanted to, right?\u201d<\/p>\n
Mike made a funny face, wrinkling his nose thinking. All he said was, \u201cUhhh\u2026\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cShe\u2019s right\u201d, said Andy, \u201cI mean I\u2019D let her play but some of the other boys probably wouldn\u2019t.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo they\u2019re in charge of you then, right?\u201d she asked. Molly laughed. Abby looked at her and they both smiled at each other and their eyes twinkled. I could tell they liked each other. Abby and Molly were both pretty smart.<\/p>\n
\u201cNo\u201d, said Andy, sounding a little mad, \u201cNo. They\u2019re not in charge of us. It\u2019s a team sport, which means everybody has to agree to the rules. Barton and his friends wouldn\u2019t play with us if we wanted to let girls play.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember Barton\u201d, said Molly, \u201cJust like Clem he said girls couldn\u2019t play in the soccer games before class. He\u2019s a dickhead too.\u201d A kind of laugh exploded out of Arthur\u2019s nose.<\/p>\n
\u201cHe IS kind of a dickhead\u201d, he said and nodded his head. I still couldn\u2019t believe Molly was saying swear words like that. I didn\u2019t remember her saying any the last time we played together, but that was a long time ago last fall. It seemed like we were all different and becoming more like big kids really quickly.<\/p>\n
\u201cA BIT?\u201d said Abby, shaking her head and laughing through her nose as she continued to move her hockey players around. I guess she thought Barton was a dickhead too. I remembered him being that really big kid on the sixth grade team in our soccer games before class.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell\u201d, said Paul, finally deciding to say something, \u201cIt\u2019s good we\u2019re figuring out who all the dickheads are!\u201d Everybody laughed.<\/p>\n
Ricky came bouncing down the stairs. \u201cWhat\u2019s so funny?\u201d he asked, \u201cWhat\u2019d I miss?\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWho the Burns Park dickheads are\u201d, said Paul.<\/p>\n
\u201cOh geez\u201d, Ricky said, \u201cI miss all the good stuff! Anyway, missus Z asked me to ask all of you to come upstairs for the ceremonial presentation of the cake to the birthday boy.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cWhat about Danny and\u2026\u201d, I started to ask, but Ricky started talking before I could finish.<\/p>\n
\u201cDanny, Danny, Danny\u201d, he said to me, \u201cIt\u2019s all taken care of. The rest of your guests await your presence\u201d, and he bowed and put out his hand pointing up the basement stairs. We all started up the stairs, me last.<\/p>\n
\u201cHere they come missus Z\u201d, he called out up the stairs. By the time I got up the stairs into the kitchen, mom, Molly\u2019s mom and Paul\u2019s mom were all standing right next to each other in front of the kitchen table so I couldn\u2019t see what was on it. Mom said we should walk into the living room through the sitting room, which was filled with all the grownups, some sitting, others standing. When I got around the corner into the rest of the living room I saw all the kids from upstairs sitting on the staircase, with Danny and Marybeth up at the top. Mom had me sit in one of the wire chairs at the round table. My school friends, Paul and Molly stood around me. Ricky flopped down in the big overstuffed rocking chair, still wearing his crazy hat.<\/p>\n
\u201cGo for it Missus Z\u201d, he said, and most of the grownups laughed. That was one of the things he was best at, making grownups laugh.<\/p>\n
So they did the regular birthday cake thing. Dad brought the cake with the ten burning candles out of the kitchen, and he and Eddie\u2019s dad started the singing of the usual birthday song, but they did some harmony in the middle of it. At the end of the song I blew out the candles and everybody clapped and cheered. The words written on the brown chocolate cake frosting said \u201cHappy First Decade\u201d with a really big \u201cCooper\u201d underneath it in white frosting. Mom had put little green eyes in each of the \u201co\u201ds and a white smile underneath them. Molly and Paul\u2019s moms then took the cake back into the kitchen, cut it, and brought pieces out on paper plates for everybody. There was barely enough for everyone.<\/p>\n
Then mom, dad, Molly\u2019s mom and Danny\u2019s mom went back in the kitchen as all the rest of us ate our cake, and then I heard popping noises in there, and they brought out little plastic cups with light brown bubbly liquid.<\/p>\n
\u201cChampagne for the grownups and Vernors ginger ale for the kids\u201d, mom said, and she and Molly\u2019s mom had trays of the Vernors for us kids, and Danny\u2019s mom champagne for the grownups.<\/p>\n
When mom gave a cup to Ricky he said, \u201cI\u2019d prefer the champagne\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mom laughed and said, \u201cDon\u2019t push your luck, kid!\u201d<\/p>\n
When everybody had a cup of something to drink, mom stood by the bottom of the stairs where everyone could see her, raised her little cup, looked at me and said, \u201cTo you Coop. You\u2019ve got a decade under your belt now and you\u2019re on to the next. Everything\u2019s changing so fast these days, can anyone even imagine what all our lives will be like in another ten years?\u201d Most of the grownups shook their heads. The kids looked like they were still thinking about the answer.<\/p>\n
\u201cFlying cars\u201d, Ricky said, and all the grownups laughed, \u201cI\u2019m still hoping for flying cars.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cMen on the moon\u201d, Walter said.<\/p>\n
\u201cWomen too\u201d, Maryjane said. Most of the grownups laughed.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell whatever life brings\u201d, mom said, looking at me and holding her cup towards me, \u201cWe\u2019re here for you!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cHear hear\u201d, said dad, raising his cup, \u201cTo your continuing adventures, Coop!\u201d<\/p>\n
All of the other grownups raised their cups too and most said \u201chear hear\u201d. The older kids knew to raise their cups for a toast, but not the \u201chear hear\u201d part. I noticed Danny and Marybeth looking at each other.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
So I opened my presents with everybody watching. I don\u2019t know that I\u2019d ever gotten so many before. Mom and dad got me a tape recorder with the shiny brown tape and those clear plastic circle \u201creels\u201d, and dad said he\u2019d help me with the instructions on how to use it. Mom said I could use it to record all the ideas I was thinking about so I didn\u2019t forget them. I got a lot of music records from my friends, including forty five records from Arthur from what he said were \u201cAnn Arbor bands\u201d, \u201cThe Rationals\u201d and the \u201cMC5\u201d. Mike got me a soccer ball and said I could be good at soccer if I practiced. Ricky got me a \u201cSmothers Brothers\u201d record called \u201cCurb Your Tongue, Knave\u201d. Paul got me another Avalon Hill game called \u201cMidway\u201d, which I knew was a big ship battle between the US and the Japanese in World War Two. Vincent got me that \u201cRisk\u201d game that I\u2019d seen at that Riders hobby store. Maryjane\u2019s kids, Zeke and Gordon, got me \u201cFlash\u201d comic books, because they said he had the best villains.<\/p>\n
Molly\u2019s present was a big cardboard tube of Tinker Toys. I think most people there thought that was a present you\u2019d only give a little kid. After I saw what it was, I looked at her and she grinned and shook her head and said, \u201cYou can never have too many Tinker Toys.\u201d<\/p>\n
I remembered when she gave me more Tinker Toys for my fourth birthday six years ago, because she said I never had enough to make everything I wanted to make. I could tell she remembered that too. I suddenly felt sad that she and I didn\u2019t get to play together very much any more, and I remembered what I heard her say in the basement that I\u2019d been her best friend.<\/p>\n
***<\/p>\n
After the party, most everyone had gone home, but Molly\u2019s mom, Vincent\u2019s mom and Maryjane stayed to help mom and dad clean up, so Molly, Vincent, Zeke and Gordon stayed too. Zeke, Gordon and David were up in our room looking at comic books and talking about drawing, still listening to the stack of Beatles records over and over again. Vincent was up there too. He saw all my Avalon Hill games in the closet and I told him it was okay if he wanted to open them all up and look at them.<\/p>\n
While the grownups cleaned up, Molly and I decided to take a walk over in the park. We put on our jackets and walked out in the cold across the baseball field and sat on the top of the big hill, looking down on all the parts of the park around us, the tennis courts, the baseball diamonds, the soccer fields and my school way off to the left, which used to be her school. There were some older kids playing basketball, on both basketball courts, and a few little kids on the play equipment.<\/p>\n
\u201cRemember the last time we sat up here together?\u201d she asked.<\/p>\n
\u201cYep\u201d, I said, \u201cThen we walked by my new house to see the painted rock, except I didn\u2019t know it was my new house yet.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cEverything\u2019s so different now\u201d, she said, looking out toward my house across the park.<\/p>\n
\u201cI know\u201d, I said. Things were different for me, living in a different house by a different park, going to a different school and having different friends. But it felt GOOD different for me, except that I didn\u2019t see her very much anymore. I couldn\u2019t tell if it was good for her too because SHE seemed different enough that I couldn\u2019t tell what she was thinking as much as I used to.<\/p>\n
\u201cI didn\u2019t invite you to my birthday party\u201d, she said, \u201cBecause all the other kids coming were girls.\u201d I nodded. That made sense.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m glad you came to MY party\u201d, I said, \u201cThere were at least a few other girls.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah\u201d, she said nodding, still looking out towards my house but not at me, \u201cAbby was neat. I kind of remember her from when I lived here and went to Burns Park, but she was a grade higher so we never talked to each other before today. And it was good to see Marybeth and Hannah. They both seemed so much older than the last time I saw them.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI know\u201d, I said again, \u201cI feel a lot older too, than before we moved here.\u201d She nodded.<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah\u201d, she said, \u201cYou\u2019re different. Not BAD different, but I can\u2019t tell what you\u2019re thinking anymore!\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cI can\u2019t tell what YOU\u2019RE thinking anymore either\u201d, I said. We both laughed through our noses, still looking out and not at each other.<\/p>\n
\u201cAt my school\u201d, she said, \u201cGirls and boys don\u2019t really ever talk to each other. Or like only in class when they\u2019re supposed to for a school project or something.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah\u201d, I said, \u201cSame thing here.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cSo it\u2019s like we\u2019re on different teams now\u201d, she said, \u201cThat\u2019s why we seem different.\u201d That made me think that she was right, I nodded but was too busy thinking about that to say anything.<\/p>\n
\u201cRemember when those older girls would ask if you were my \u2018boyfriend\u2019\u201d, she said, \u201cAnd I would say no, that you were my BEST friend.\u201d I nodded. \u201cWell now this Girl Patty in my class is my best friend. I hope that\u2019s okay. I wanted to tell you because you are still my OLDEST friend.\u201d I nodded.<\/p>\n
I felt sad again. But I also felt good that she told me and I was at least still her oldest friend. I didn\u2019t have a new best friend, so I guess she still was mine.<\/p>\n
We heard a bell ringing from across the park. We could see our mom\u2019s in the front yard of our house, my mom ringing the bell. I stood up.<\/p>\n
\u201cMy mom wants us to head back\u201d, I said. She stood up too, still looking out towards my house. We started to walk down the hill.<\/p>\n
\u201cSo is Paul your best friend now?\u201d she asked, \u201cOr Mike?\u201d I didn\u2019t nod or shake my head or say anything. When I didn\u2019t she looked down at the ground.<\/p>\n
\u201cI remember Mike from the soccer games before class\u201d, she said, like she wanted me to have a new best friend too and maybe he could be it, \u201cThe few times I pretended to be a boy and played when I was in third grade, he was always really nice and never told on me, even though he knew I was a girl.\u201d<\/p>\n
Even though I couldn\u2019t tell what she was thinking, I could tell she was sad, and that she figured out I was sad too.<\/p>\n
\u201cWell\u201d, she said, trying not to sound sad, \u201cIf you invite me to your next birthday party I\u2019ll come, though I might get you more Tinker Toys because you can never have enough.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cYeah\u201d, I said, \u201cI really liked that you got me that. That was my favorite present.\u201d<\/p>\n
\u201cGood\u201d, she said, as we walked across the empty baseball diamond toward my house and our moms watching us in the front yard.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
It was the middle of March about two weeks before my birthday, but it still seemed like winter outside, even though there was hardly any snow left on the ground. \u201cYou know Coolie\u201d, mom said as she rubbed a white cloth on the shiny top of the round table in the living room, \u201cYour tenth […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[1777,13,1774,1773,1799,1800,1775],"class_list":["post-7817","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-adventure","tag-1960s","tag-ann-arbor","tag-autobiography","tag-childhood","tag-free-range-kid","tag-growing-up","tag-memoir"],"aioseo_notices":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7817","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=7817"}],"version-history":[{"count":5,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7817\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":7822,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/7817\/revisions\/7822"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=7817"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=7817"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.leftyparent.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=7817"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}