I started pulling the fishing rods out and preparing them to be baited when Carrie came up behind me.She wrapped her arms around my waist, and I kissed her cheek before she released me and asked how she could help.I grabbed the small bucket of worms and held it up to her, “You can learn how to bait the hooks.”I told her smiling.I knew Carrie hated anything slimy so when she wrinkled her nose and shook her head at me, I couldn’t help but laugh.I decided I wouldn’t make her stick her hand in the bucket and instead baited them myself and worked with her on casting the perfect line, which by the time we were done, was almost better than mine.
We all cheered Mom on as she reeled in what she thought was a big catch.But as she pulled her rod up, all that was hanging from the end of the line was a giant piece of seaweed and she joked that her worm must have thought she was vegetarian.It was the perfect segway for her to start a story about one of our fishing trips with Grandpa when I was three.Apparently, I was playing in the bait bucket and before she was able to grab the worm from my hand, I put it in my mouth and swallowed it.
“Ew, that’s disgusting!”Carrie gagged.“Is that why his breath always tastes like old cheese, then?”Her mouth fell open with ahahaand I said “Oh, like this?”and I pulled her in and kissed her; a long dramatic kiss that made Mom turn away.
When she broke the kiss, she smiled and whispered, “Maybe you should eat some more worms if it makes you kiss like that!”We were having a moment when I looked over and saw Mom taking pictures of us.
“Mom!Really?”
“What!?”she played dumb.“I have to have some candids to share at your future wedding, don’t I?”I rolled my eyes at that.Mom had been throwing comments like that out over the last few months, ever since I asked her to help me pick out a promise ring for Carrie’s upcoming birthday.
The truth is, I would marry Carrie right out of high school if I thought she would start her life with me here in our hometown.But I know she has big plans that don’t include sticking around here after graduation.I’m not sure what our future holds.
I looked over and saw Carrie gazing out over the bay, so I changed the subject, seeing that we were almost back to shore and didn’t want to end this excursion with a bad vibe.“So, what’s next on the staycation itinerary?”
Mom looked at her watch, “It’s 1:30, and we have about forty-five minutes until we have to be at our next location, so that means it’s time for milkshakes at the Shake Shack!”
The Shake Shack used to be my favorite place to request when Mom wanted to go out for a sweet treat.They serve gourmet milkshakes with all sorts of crazy toppings like mini brownies, fruit kebabs and cookie slices or upside-down ice cream cones.They are definitely not your ordinary milkshake and you better come with an empty stomach, because it’s like a meal in a cup.
I ordered a cherry chocolate chip shake with mini brownies on top while Carrie opted for a peanut butter chunk shake with a banana and cherry skewer.Mom ordered a chocolate shake with mini marshmallows and graham cracker crumbs.We all tasted each other’s and ranked them from best to worst; mine was the fan fave and none of us were able to finish them.I hated to toss my remaining half of a shake in the trash, but I knew I would regret it later if I forced myself to finish it off.How did I ever finish these as a kid?
Once we left the Shake Shack, we made our way over to the regional airport.It was a small runway, used primarily by privately owned planes, puddle jumpers, and it’s where I got a taste for flying.We were met by Mom’s old boyfriend, Cody.I didn’t even know they kept in touch.
They shared a small moment where Mom went in for a friendly hug and he held it longer than he should have.When they separated, I could tell Cody’s eyes looked Mom up and down and I jumped in to save her, clearing my throat loudly, “Hey Cody, it’s been a long time!”I reached out to shake his hand and he was brought back to the present.
“Dylan!Look at you, you’re almost taller than me!”He took my hand and gave me a hug, slapping my back in friendly recognition.Ihad always liked Cody and I never knew what happened between them; he just stopped showing up one day when I was nine.I made a mental note to ask Mom about it later and I introduced him to Carrie.
Cody explained that we were going to be taking a trip down the coast, along the Eastern Shore where we were sure to see some dolphins popping up in the Chesapeake Bay if we looked out the windows.I sat with him in the cockpit, and we went through the pre-flight checklist together.During takeoff, I sat back and watched, in pure awe as we made our way higher and higher into the clouds.Once we reached altitude, the view was just everything I remembered from the last time I was up here with him and I can honestly say, this was where I wanted to be.Cody let me take the controls for just a minute and it was exhilarating!He pointed out everything and told me to look down when we were over the bay.A peek back at Mom and Carrie told me they were enjoying this just as much as I was.When we had finished our tour, Cody flew us back toward the airport and I initiated the landing gear when he gave me the nod.We touched down and taxied back to the hangar and we all clapped:this was the best part of the day so far!
When we were back on solid footing, safely outside the plane, Mom handed me an envelope.She had written “Happy Staycation!”on the front and I tore it open, pulling out a slip of paper that read: GIFT CERTIFICATE FOR THREE PRIVATE FLYING LESSONS COACHED BY CODY FRESNO
“No way!Mom, this is the best gift ever, thank you so much!”I shouted.
“Well this is a combined gift from the both of us.”Mom pointed between herself and Carrie.“Carrie was the one that told me you were interested in becoming a pilot – I had no idea!”
“Thanks, babe!”I said to Carrie, and she mouthed:Welcome.
“So, it looks like we’ll be seeing a lot more of each other then, won’t we?”Cody came up to us and I’m not sure that remark was necessarily directed at me.I really need to find out if there’s something going on with these two again.
I drove us all back to Mom’s car and we headed home for a planned break from the activities.Carrie and I stopped by her house so she could change and when we pulled into the driveway, her mom was jumping up and down with excitement from the front door.She handed Carrie a large envelope and her face lit up.I looked on as she opened the envelope with shaky hands; it was labeled from Duke University, her number one choice for nursing school.She had her hand on the papers in the envelope, but she couldn’t bring herself to pull them out.
“I can’t do it!What if it’s a rejection letter?”She handed the envelope to me.“You open it, please.”I took it from her and pulled the papers out, reading them over before I said anything.My heart sank at first, but I quickly corrected it with a smile on my face as I read it out loud:
“We are pleased to inform you that you have been accepted to Duke University as a Freshman for Fall Semester with a major of Bachelor of Science – Nursing.”
“I got in?”she screeched.
“You got in!”I shrieked back.
“I knew it!”her mom chimed in.
We all jumped around on the porch, excited and terrified at the same time.I could not be more torn with my thoughts and emotions at the moment.I was thrilled that Carrie got into her top choice of schools; this has literally been her dream for as long as I’ve known her.And I was also scared of what this means for us; North Carolina is not as far as Alabama, but it would still be long-distance,could we survive that?
We went inside and Carrie ran upstairs to change, bouncing all the way up.I followed Ms.Lancaster into the sunroom, and she asked me how my day had gone so far.While we chatted for a bit, she told me she had found an old photo of my dad that she wanted to show me.It was in a small photo album, tucked behind some other photos like it was hidden.There he was, sitting on a couch with two other guys next to him, he wasn’t smiling in this picture, it’s probably the first one I’ve seen where he wasn’t.God, I could be looking in the mirror, I thought.
“He was seventeen here, we were having a party at my house.I took this picture just after he broke up with me for the first time and I found him using my phone to send a page to your mom.I didn’t know her at the time but when he hung up and walked away, I hit redial on the phone and listened as a voice message played:‘This is Ellie, you know the drill’and I committed that name to memory.”
“Is that why he’s not smiling in this picture?And what’s a page?”I asked.She laughed and swiped her hand through her hair, tucking a strand behind her ear.
