This Was Our Day

 

Google Streetview

Writing here for over 1,400 days in a row means coming up with ideas and topics consistently.

That means often repeating things.

That also means sometimes feeling like I overshare.

My greatest concern is about droning on about Sean. Yes, I write about him and our relationship frequently but I see what others do and remind myself to proceed with caution.

For one thing he doesn't often like the attention. For another, I don't want to be that person.

So there are plenty of stories that you don't hear. Haven't heard. Won't hear.

Still, should you invest in this post further, you will learn that we're just "us."

We're simple men. We have our respective jobs, lives, and schedules. We like simple meals and things that many wouldn't go out of their way for.

So we decided to go to New Jersey and get Wawa for lunch.

That, if you don't know, was our "Plan C" for Thanksgiving. When our first options weren't timing out correctly, we decided to do our own thing.

Which, yes, means we were going to a convenience store with gas tanks.

It's one way in which we are simpatico with the denizens of the Garden State as the closest location is in New Jersey.

For those who think that sounds like a sad Thanksgiving, don't. Being "us" is exactly who we are. Embracing differences is exactly what life is supposed to be.

Of course, our Thanksgiving turned out great as we did spend it with family in a more traditional turkey gathering.

Today itself was nothing major. Like many things we do, it was ad-hoc. We jumped in the car, battled traffic across Westchester into Rockland County and headed down to Lodi, NJ.

We each concocted our culinary delights that deli snobs would scoff at. Sean grabbed a fountain drink and I went for coffee.

Then we ate.

In the car.

And we were pretty happy.

To extend the day a bit, we opted for a stop at the Palisades Center, a mall we both realized neither one had been to in several years. As I worked in Rockland County when it opened I was familiar with its multiple floors and stores back in 1997.

Things have obviously changed since then.

But we walked and talked and my son -- ever the Monster -- picked up a couple of baked goods at the cookie store.

Yes. Cookie Monster. That's him.

He also took some pictures as we drove for a school project he's working on. He needed to document something and he decided this trip would do.

We were soon home and gone only a few hours.

We've never had a problem talking. At least I don't think so. Things kind of just cruise between us and I love our adventures, even as simple as they might seem.

I remember being a teenager with my father and struggling for things to talk to him about. That feeling was often palpable. I don't think that exists between Sean and me.

At home, we each went on about doing our thing.

He's playing whatever games he plays and chatting with friends.

I set about lining up my calendar with another barrage of potential games involving multiple schools. I chilled out after that, with nothing to broadcast for the first time in a few days.

The is fleeting and I know that. I often remind myself the day is coming when he'll realize that it's good to set out more on his own.

As a parent that's what I want even if we're talking about a few other potential trips that are both big and small.

But, still, the day is coming when he'll do his thing so I'm content to hold tightly to simple days like this.

As we ate, we laughed about exactly who would do such a thing.

"Two nitwits from Connecticut," I said with a laugh.

"Yes, but we're weird," Sean countered.

Yes. Yes, we are, and I embrace every last bit of it.