Jersey Summer

 

I was in Geoffrey’s room. We were in his bed reading. I insisted he listen to me read a Mary Oliver poem. As I read the end, a tear trickled from my left eye. After I finished reading, I nudged him, and when he looked at me, I pointed to the tear that now traveled down my cheek and said, “It moved me.” He laughed and cozied up to the pillow next to him.

Mid-July we visited my sister in Philadelphia and she took us to The Jersey Shore for a week. It was fun, and coming from bone-dry July-Sacramento I was blown away by the July-Philadelphia climate that felt like coastal Mexico. The first day up the shore the eight of us adapted to the two-bedroom apartment, and my kids and I took off to explore the boardwalk. We did a silly haunted house and then played haunted house-themed mini-golf. The golf game started fun but ended with only Kiki and me playing because Geoffrey couldn’t handle his jealousy after watching his sister get a hole-in-one, so he threw his ball and had to wait for us by the exit.

Everyone is allowed one meltdown on vacation because being away from home can be hard. Kiki’s was triggered by our walking eight miles a day, and she insisted on one-on-one time which was awarded by us leaving for our evening boardwalk walk five minutes before everyone else, and meeting them at the end an hour later.

My three-year-old nephew fell to his knees, crying to the heavens, when his sister found the biggest sea shell I have ever seen. He was driven mad with treasure-hunter energy to try and find a shell that was bigger than hers. While he screamed from the injustices of the universe,  Geoffrey followed him gently explaining that sometimes life isn’t fair. I laughed at the irony and told my sister about the haunted house mini golf debacle and then she told me about my Grandma and cousin getting so scared walking through one of those roadside attraction haunted houses, that they made the workers turn on the lights and escort them from the building.

The day we were scheduled to fly home, the Philadelphia airport was the saddest sight. It looked like a homeless shelter because of all the stranded people from the great-software-update-debacle. I should have known things would go wrong. After many delays, our flight was canceled, and our trip was extended another three days. This is when I should have had my meltdown. I should have screamed, “FUCK YOU DELTA AIRLINES!!!” But I didn’t want to stress my kids out, so I went inward.

Luckily my sister didn’t have to work those days, so we had a bonus trip where we went to an amusement park, swam, ordered an 18-inch cheesesteak, and hit up some American history sights in Philly. I had a great time, but in the back of my mind I was homesick, and to make myself feel better, I made plans to organize, rearrange, and clean out my house.

When we made it home my body made it impossible for me to leave; I came down with the flu. This kickstarted my week-long cleaning frenzy. I worked my way through every inch of the house. After Geoffrey and I stood on one side of my massive dresser and pushed with all our might, we couldn’t even get the thing to move a millimeter, I decided to hire people to help me move the furniture later.

I wanted to nest, but my little sister and I made a deal. If she watched my dog while we were on vacation, then I’d babysit her kids so she could have a weekend trip with her husband. Babysitting her four kids was fun and it wasn’t that hard because we all stayed with my parents, so I forced them to babysit with me. They were happy to help. My dad did all the cooking, my mom was the woman who got them snacks, and I was the one who had to put them to bed. The three youngest were sleeping on a queen-size mattress and after I read them the book they requested, the symphony of “I’m hot,” “I’m thirsty,” and “I’m bored,” started. They reminded me of the bud-weis-er frogs. Hot-thirsty-bored. I sat bedside for an hour, but it felt like three hours. After a while, I played a Spotify bedtime playlist, and they were immediately hushed and lulled to sleep by the sounds of waves crashing on the beach.

During the day we took all the kids to the pool. My mom and I sat on lounge chairs, and I saw Geoffrey walking towards us from the changing rooms. I looked at him, and shouted, “Hey there, babe.”

I didn’t notice a man walking in front of him, but my mom started laughing so hard after watching this man react as if I had shouted this out at him.

She also was unsure of what I was doing, and said, “I had no idea you were so bold.”

After babysitting, the kids and I had to prep for the new school year. Kiki was in my room going through my clothes. She dressed herself up and pretended to be me introducing myself to my students on the first day of school. She stood up straight, and in an authoritative tone said, “My name is Alicia Davis. I like my coffee black and my tampons super.”

This made me laugh so hard, and I quickly scribbled it down on an index card. I do this when something tickles my fancy, I jot it down because I want to remember the moment and it's excellent writing material.

I brought the card to the now organized stack. I found cards all over my house when I did my cleaning. I flipped through them and pulled one out from Geoffrey. I think he gave it to me on Mother’s Day. The card said, “I love you a lot so take 34.76 USD.” He presented it to me with all the money he’d saved. 

At the time, I laughed at a ten-year-old writing USD and I told him I couldn’t take his money. He was deflated and sad I wouldn’t accept it, so I said never mind and kept it. 

This time, when I read the index card I laughed but then a tear came to my eye, and I felt it trickle down my cheek. Unlike my furniture, I was moved.