Was up late last night. You see there were 8 or 9 teenagers chatting in my backyard until 11:30. My son was "hanging" with a few of his friends. They all lazily layed/sat on our trampoline while chatting, laughing, and flirting. Now our bedroom window faces the back of the house. It was freaking hot last night, so we had our window open to let in the night breeze.
I was just drifting off to sleep as the whiff of teenage hormones pierced my nose, and the sound of chit-chat filled the neighborhood. They were rounding the corner just a half block away. The good wife was waiting up (she can't sleep until the boy is safely tucked into bed) and nudged me just a bit as she layed across me trying to overhear their chatter (she is a bit nosy).
I remember those teen aged summer nights as we discussed hopes, dreams, and meaningless stuff in Mrs. Roylance's class the school year before. The almost too intense joy that filled me as I sat close with friends and wondered if that girl in the group was as intensely taken with me as I was with her. Would she let me hold her hand? Would we end the night with a lot of non-committal kissing and snuggling? It was almost too much anticipation for my immature body to contain. Eventually I would make my move. Eventually she would make hers... farther away from me on the trampoline, and toward Ryan (every girl had the hots for Ryan.... Damnit!).
But the sensations, although in memory only, are as fresh today as they were twenty plus years ago (crud! has it really been that long?). I impose these fleeting sensations upon my boy as I faintly hear his voice emerge from the lulled conversations reaching my aging ears. "Can you tell what they are saying," I asked the wife in a whisper.
"No."
I could sense her impish grin in the dark of our room. My sons most recent girlfriend was with the group. Did they hold hands? Did they kiss? Did they snuggle just a little bit? My vicarious joy for him was almost as intense as it was for myself in the way-back-when.
Eventually, I drifted off to sleep, because, tiredness outranks curiosity for me every time.
The boy won't stop smiling this morning.
HH
2 comments:
This is just around the corner for my oldest son; I don't like to think too much about the rawness of emotion he will feel. It scares the hell out of me. So, thanks for making me think about it.
I cannot believe he's a full-fledged teenager. Time really flies. I'm really a grown-up now.
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