“Happy Birthday, you little punk.” My dad said. “What sort of trouble have you been getting in to?”
“Aw. Well. The usual!” I replied and thought – well at least everyone knows I come by it honestly.
“Who’s this boy I heard you’ve been kissing?” He wondered.
“He’s just a guy, dad.” I chuckled. “But he did give me a flutter in my belly and make me turn into a giggling idiot for a bit…”
My dad burst into laughter on the other end of the phone. My dad’s laugh is a lot like a startled trombone that dissolves into gravelly hisses and ends with a wheeze. “Oh, Athena! I wish I could have seen that so I could tease you about it for the rest of your life!”
To be fair, my dad still teases me about the time I got my tongue stuck to a fire hydrant in first grade – there is no living that down.
“So tell me about him a little and tell me more about your new book contract.” He added and we chatted awhile for my birthday call.
This year feels so different; so full of a new kind of optimism and promise. Getting older is turning out to be a whole lot of fun. This year I think I might actually put in some roots.
Recent Comments