They Can't Stay Young Forever

This is "Junior"

I was looking in my memories today when I saw a reminder of some of the work I did at the HAN Network.

From time to time, I would get a hotel room out of the deal, especially if it involved a night game followed by a day game in the same area. There's no question I was grateful to not have to do the amount of driving from Shelton to Mahopac and so on.

However, in this case, it was a weekend in which I was supposed to have Sean. And, let's face it, what kid doesn't love crashing in a hotel?

Especially one with a giant indoor water slide?

That's what the Hampton Inn had in Shelton.

So I picked up Sean and drove him back to Fairfield where I called the Fairfield Ludlowe/Fairfield Prep on Friday night in a state playoff basketball game.

It was a chaotic night with a huge crowd and poor internet service inside Alumni Hall. It was just one of those nights.

Regardless, the waterslide was closed when we got back to the hotel. We'd have to get up first thing in the morning to enjoy it.

Sean was still at the age where he had a few stuffed animals to keep him company.

Though they wouldn't always travel with him, he had "Big Kitty" (a stuffed cat that was actually mine) and an Elmo at his mother's. Among the "guys" he kept with me was a small Pillow Pet that was called "Junior," named because he had a larger Pillow Pet. Both were black cats with white on his face.

It wasn't so much that he was looking for them to sleep with but they were sort of a running gag between us. Sean's inventive mind created a whole personality for Junior, including a small box that he made into an airplane.

It was "The Junior Jet."

And so I made sure to pack Junior to bring to the hotel, just as you see in the picture on the AC unit in the room.

These were the little things that made us smile and were part of the bond of this father-and-son unit.

We also bonded on the water slide early the next morning as we were down there when it opened. We did several runs on it with our laughter reverberating off the walls. We'd also jump into the adjacent pool as well.

Oh, keep in mind it was March and quite cold outside as I recall. That always adds to the joy of the situation.

We enjoyed this for a bit before getting dressed, grabbing breakfast, and heading into Bridgeport for two ice hockey games.

It was Sean's patience in those situations that were recorded with things like staying in a hotel, with him learning that Daddy's job was different than the average 9-to-5, even though I also did that at the time.

They were crazy days, nights, and weekends that produced wonderful memories.

They're long over now as HAN is gone and Sean is 22.

Oh, he still has his guys but he doesn't travel with them anymore.

No, I don't have to keep space in the backseat for them when we drive to Florida.

Junior, in fact, will stay put in Sean's bedroom while we're gone.

He and Rascal will be our guard cats.