Each year on December 24, the boy’s father takes Stephen and him shopping. All three of them have usually bought almost all their gifts, but Dad likes to be out in the crowds, get lunch, browse a bookstore, and spend time together before heading home for Christmas Eve traditions. The boy is twelve and aContinue reading “Damn Tacos”
Tag Archives: Sons
Most Teams Celebrate When They Win
The man’s oldest son started football for Silver Lake when he was ten. They went 0-8 that year. That same group of kids has never won a varsity game since mighty mites. The man and his friend are the new the Silver Lake seventh and eighth grade coaches this season. They have dumped the oldContinue reading “Most Teams Celebrate When They Win”
Purple Heart Funeral
The man’s youngest son discovered Oversimplify on YouTube on his own around age eight, which made him an unlikely authority on eras of history that most people know little about. Now, he often says things like, “Can you believe people thought Czar Nicholas was so bad? Apparently, they haven’t heard of Leopold II of Belgium!”Continue reading “Purple Heart Funeral”
Why Don’t They Call it Lawyer Pibb?
What do you call two thousand lawyers at the bottom of the ocean? Progress. What’s the difference between a lawyer and a shark? The shark doesn’t charge you after eating you alive. What do you say to a drowning lawyer? I have no idea. Good! The young man’s dad is a lawyer. Dad laughs alongContinue reading “Why Don’t They Call it Lawyer Pibb?”
Your Mom’s the Coolest
The girl lives on the corner of a street in one of the newer neighborhoods south of his. Her street T heads another street, and across that street is a large drainage ditch. The young man, Ted, and Greg are all riding in the ice-blue minivan; the young man’s mom is driving. They turn downContinue reading “Your Mom’s the Coolest”
His Son Is Trying to Kill Him
Their son does not like anything the man does for him. He hates having his diaper changed, cries like he is being killed. When the man goes to give the boy his first bath, the man’s mother in law insists, “Babies love their baths!” But Grant does not: he screams bloody murder through it. OnContinue reading “His Son Is Trying to Kill Him”
As Long as You Didn’t Start It
He is in sixth grade now. Few things have changed for him at Sanders Elementary. He still wears corduroy pants and khaki button-down shirts. On one arm, he has two bracelets, names of men missing in action from Vietnam. On the other arm, he has one bracelet with the name of a man missing inContinue reading “As Long as You Didn’t Start It”
I Hope He Doesn’t Die
The boy lies in bed with his hands behind his head, while his father sits at the foot of the bed near his feet. The disappointment of pitching and losing the first of two possible clinching games has mostly passed. They will just have to clinch the championship Friday night instead, and while he can’tContinue reading “I Hope He Doesn’t Die”
A Poor Man’s Made Out of Muscle and Blood
The boy is ten and on his first All Star baseball team. They have completed their first practice in the simmering Corpus Christi heat, and it was nothing like regular Little League practice. Drills were far more intense, they conditioned, and they worked the entire two hours with no time wasted shagging balls or foolingContinue reading “A Poor Man’s Made Out of Muscle and Blood”
Your Life Is a Mission
The stake president has released him from his mission. He removes his tag and tucks it in his pocket. “Could I have my dad give me a blessing?” “Sure,” says President Grande. His dad stands and places hands on his head. “Gordon Derby Laws, Jr., by the authority of the Melchizedek Priesthood, I lay myContinue reading “Your Life Is a Mission”
His Smile Lit Up a Room and Other Things to Say at My Funeral 