Section 6, paragraph 2 of the Dad Code states that “every good dad must embarrass his child at least once while in full view of the public.”
I got my chance just outside the Cathedral in Bath, on April 15, 2023, at 3:50pm (I know this because we were waiting to get into the 4pm queue to visit the Roman Baths).
Getting any teen’s picture is tough enough, but getting THE TEEN’S picture is nearly impossible. In fact, there’s a few-years gap of formal pictures. All I have are stolen snap shots while he wasn’t looking.
On the other hand… According to Page 47, paragraph 5 of the Teen Code, “if one must show your face, do not, under penalty of death, get caught smiling.”
He did a fine job…
But rules is rules.
So, as he reluctantly stood in full view of the camera, I slowly… carefully… but not so stealthily lowered my head on his shoulder.
Mission accomplished!
The look on his face was priceless!
It reminded me of when he was ten, when he would put his head on my shoulder, in earnest.
…
I don’t remember when it stopped.
It just sort of faded into teendom.
I acted like it was a joke.
But it really was just a stolen memory.
…
4 o’clock came and we went inside.
As I stood by the pool of green water, a flood of other memories came up.
The last time I stood in that place was nearly a quarter century before he was even born!
Astonishingly, I was only two years older than the Teen is now.
(Don’t worry, there won’t be a math quiz)
Time.
Wow.
OK, so the Roman Baths have been around since 70 AD, so I’m not THAT old (even if the kid thinks that’s when I graduated high school).
But time.
Wow.
Time is Life, y’know?
TIME and MEMORIES were definitely the theme of that day.
And they’re the theme of this post.
The new memories we made that day, in that place, still linger on…
In my mind…
In my heart…
And in my head on his shoulder.