This week was a pleasant one. I had a nice visit with my dad and things wrapped up with Mom. My dad was "prepared", but of course, misses her.
In the other direction in the family tree, Chaco turned 21 this week. How can we have a 21-year-old "kid"!? He and a friend took a trip to Los Angeles to visit another friend.
Some back story:
When Chaco was a freshman at the university, he had 3 roommates. One was a buddy from high school, and the other two were random picks by the roommate gods. Random1 was tolerated for a year, but Random2 became a good friend. Also, Random2 had another good friend, an upperclassman at the university. They'd met through online gaming.
Soon, Chaco was hanging out quite a bit with Random2, whom we shall call "Flop" because that's kinda his name, and the friend, whom we shall call "Lite" because... yeah.
In year 2, the three were roommates along with Andrew, the buddy from high school. Flop wasn't doing so well, however. Flop became a poster child for the reason why one should not choose to go to college with the purpose of, "I have an online gaming friend at that one".
Flop flunked.
After three semesters, Flop returned to his home in Los Angeles to his angry affluent parents. Now, a year later, the three are all still good friends through the magic of... naturally... online gaming. Hence the fun trip for Chaco and Lite - a visit to Flop house, which from the description is nothing like a flophouse.
Wolfgang was enlisted to drive them to the Denver airport on Monday. I wasn't too keen on Wolfgang navigating the colossal airport on his own and suggested that he have a friend go along. Chaco's reply was, "Bringing one of his friends would only make things worse. You should go!"
He had a point.
So anyway, it seems I spent a lot of time on the interstate this week - visiting Dad down south, driving north to the Denver airport and back, driving to the Denver airport and back again. It was fun, though. To be honest, I wasn't sure they'd want their mom to come along, which is why I suggested a friend. But they all seemed to be at ease having me there. I also enjoyed the one-on-one time with Wolfgang.
We picked up Chaco and Lite late last night. They got all decked out for their traveling days - full power gear. When Chaco showed up in his suit for the flight out, I asked, "Wha.... why are you dressed like that??"
"It's our 'easy access' gear. No one questions a guy in a suit in an airport!".
I didn't ask what they might be questioned about, just went with it. I managed to snap this pic on their return. It's not great, just a covert mom-shot in an airport.
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| Chaco (L), Lite (R) Airport men of business, don't ask questions |
So, a good week bringing a good break to a close. Thankfully back to the grind.
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12 comments:
There's something to be said for getting back into routine, particularly after a period of mourning. I think it really helps remind us that life does go on. I feel for your dad. No matter how prepared, it's never easy to lose a loved one. He's in my thoughts.
I love that Chaco and Lite got all decked out for their flights! That's kind of genius, actually!
It'll be good for you to get back to routine. But it was nice you had the time off to be able to wrap things up with your dad.
Happy Birthday to Chaco! What a great way for him to celebrate! Another internet friendship success story. My 22 year old "kid" has a few. Heck, even my 45 year old self does. :)
I think it was a great way to celebrate his birthday too! Got me thinking that I could use a similar getaway!
Thanks for thinking of my dad.
Yeah, Chaco and Lite seemed a bit goofy in their going-to-meetin' clothes, but apparently the ruse worked!
That is hilarious! If I ever see my 19-year-old brother in a suit, I think I'll fall over.
Yea, we've had a few similar college roommate stories. You never full know who you will wind up paired with in college. Some are real "interesting" people. Sort of like my roommate in college, Mark - a real character. Perhaps someday I will enlighten you on where he lives now.
Good to see the kids have a plan WRT dealing with the TSA. As a frequent flier, I am not sure the suit thing really works, but, heck, if it works for them, all power to them. In my mind, being ex-military sometimes gives you a leg up on other travellers, but not by much. It is interesting on how we let our kids go to explore their horizons/opportunities. I would be you were a wee bit "skeptical" about letting him fly out to the flophouse for the week. Especially to the city of angels.
They're practically unrecognizable.
The suits were a funny surprise, but I guess they had fun with it. And I really wasn't too worried about the trip, they're relatively sensible guys - emphasis on "relatively"!
Picking a subject to study based on what your friends are doing is usually a bad thing. Choosing a college/uni that way? Really?
Anyway, looks like they had a good trip - I assume the suit thing worked?
Yeah, not the best after-high-school plan. Hopefully he'll find his focus.
They did have a fun trip, and they felt the suit thing was successful enough to use it again on the return. Except, with that, we don't have a no-suit experience to compare!
Blimey that photo looks like a scene from Men in Black. Not sure which one is Will Smith, but still.
Thinking of your Dad, he must feel lonely. Talking of Dad's, mine leaves hospital today and is going home. Should be interesting.
Good luck getting your Dad settled back at home!
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