Just One More Afternoon (Tom, Ian, Graces and Mercies)

On Sunday, I had the kind of afternoon that I've had at least a hundred times before. I'm going to miss them terribly.

I wanted to get Ian out for a while, so I decided that he and I would go to Target to find something for him to spend his allowance on, then head to a park for a walk (or, I guess, a roll.)

We packed a backpack full of stuff that we thought it would be good to have with us, just to be safe. As the contents grew, it reminded me of when Ian was much smaller, and we would have a diaper bag packed at all times.

When Ian was a toddler, deb worked 2-3 nights/week at the local mall. Often, the boy & I would go there and wander around. It gave us something to do, and it allowed mother and son to say "goodnight" to each other. He and I had our regular stops at the shopping center, almost on a schedule: We would get a stroller and say "hi" to Deb, then makes our rounds (KayBee Toys, the other toy store, Air Traffic, GameStop, then get a pretzel). He would eat his share of the pretzel and tell Deb about his evening, followed by home and bed.

Later, he and I would branch out for grander outings. Edinborough, parks in summer and Chuck E. Cheese were places I could take him for an afternoon or evening adventure. We were just a couple of guys out having fun.

Anyway, we wandered around Target for a while. The more toys Ian looked at, the more he said "I'll have to save up for that." I had to resist the impulse to buy him whatever he wanted. We both settled for a new lightsaber. (After all, he has only four of them, and only one other blue one. Besides, this one lights up! And it makes sounds!) We also grabbed a new dice game, and a set of 3-D glasses for the Superbowl commercials.

At the park, I bundled the boy up, but forgot my gloves. The air temperature wasn't bad, and being in the sun was great. It's been a long winter, with too many grey skies. But the wind picked up, and we both agreed that we had had enough fresh air. How about going for a drive? That sounded good; we just weren't ready to be home yet. I started off with no particular destination in mind. Just a chance to be side by side, still in the sun.

I took his left hand and held it. One of the issues he's been dealing with is that he doesn't feel much of anything in his left side anymore. He's got strength there, but it doesn't do him much good without the feedback that sensation would give him.

"Can you feel my hand?"

"A little."

"Is it OK if I just hold it?"

"Yeah."

And so we drove for a little while, my hand holding his. It wasn't doing much for Ian, but I'll take what I can get.