The Castaway Hotel - 1 - 14. Chapter 14 - Baseballs and Birthdays

June was also a very busy month for me, as my time was split between my family and work. I was overseeing the summer school session, as well as various maintenance and construction projects going on in my school building, but my priority was spending as much time as I could with my sons. To that end, I had the largest above ground pool I could find installed at the house, so we could swim together as often as possible. The boys thought having our own pool was awesome, but that’s not all we did. We also spent time playing games, working on their sports and going various places, either alone or with their friends.
Baseball was also a very big part of our lives during that time and I attended many games and practices throughout the month. The boys did very well, both individually and as part of a team, and I reveled in their achievements as the season progressed. Needless to say, I was very pleased with both of them. Their team had gotten off to a somewhat shaky start, but none of them ever gave up or became disheartened. It was this adversity that caused their team to gel as a unit, even better than any of us could have hoped for. During that time, I invited the boys’ teammates to our house on several different occasions, so they could swim and do other things together, and that also helped the team grow closer with each other.

As July approached, the league playoffs began, and Danny and Ricky’s team still had a chance to win it all. They had finished with the second best record out of the two divisions during the regular season, and they qualified to participate in the four-team playoff, which included the top two teams in each division. They had to play the team with the third best record first and they played really well, but so did the other team. It came down to the final inning, with our team up by one run. The other team had runners on second and third, and there was only one out, so it was very tense.

The pitcher fell into a hole quickly, as his first two pitches were called balls, so he grooved the third pitch, thinking the batter would be taking it, and he didn’t want to fall behind 3-0. The batter wasn’t taking and swung hard, nailing the pitch. It was headed for the gap between short and third, which more than likely would score two runs and put the other team in the lead. Out of nowhere, Danny dove for the ball, snatched it out of the air and immediately popped back to his feet and took off for third. The runner there had made a mental error, first taking too big of a lead, but he also broke for home before the ball went through the infield. Danny ended up doubling him off, ending the game and allowing his team to win by a single run.

Needless to say, Danny was mobbed by his teammates, his coach and even a few of the parents, but I elected to stay off the field. Oh, I clapped loudly and cheered energetically, but I thought I’d wait to congratulate him after the commotion had died down. Once things were almost back to normal, I offered to take the entire team to the nearby ice cream parlor and buy everyone cones. Of course, that set the boys off again, but they had earned it. A couple of the boys rode with us, but most went with their parents. As soon as we got in the car, Ricky couldn’t contain himself any longer.

“Dad, did you see Danny’s play?” he gushed, his enthusiasm showing how proud he was of his brother. “He was awesome.”

“Yes, I did,” I responded. “It was a fantastic play. I don’t think I’ve ever seen a major leaguer pull off anything quite as spectacular.”

“I just got lucky,” Danny told us, modestly. “I didn’t think I could reach it, but it must have tailed back into my glove.”

“Danny, that ball was hit too hard to tail back,” I informed him. “All I saw was a well executed, well-timed dive, followed up by a reaction that could only have happened for somebody whose head was in the game. It was obvious you had thought the situations over in your mind before the ball was even hit, otherwise you would never have made it to third base so quickly. THAT is what makes a great player.” I could see Danny blush a little after I said that, but I could tell that he was also very pleased by my compliment.

“Thanks, Dad,” he eventually responded, “but I only did what you and the coach have taught me to do.”

When we arrived at the ice cream place, I told the person waiting on us what size cones to give everyone, and then I let the boys order what they wanted. Everyone kept talking about the game while they downed their treats and Danny remained the center of attention during most of that time. I could tell he was proud to have helped the team like that, but he was a little uncomfortable about being singled out for what he had done. He kept saying they all helped win the game, not just him, and all he did was make the last two outs. No one bought that, but I was pleased and impressed by the way he conducted himself.

The next game was also a thriller and they ended up playing the only team that finished with a better record than they had. The lead shifted back and forth throughout the game and Danny and Ricky both played very well. They both had hits and each of them made some nice fielding plays, but the team fell short. They ended up losing the game, and although you could see they were sad about not winning, they didn’t let the loss tear them up inside. They knew they played well and did their best, except the other team did a little better. We were still proud of their accomplishments and the boys learned a great deal and had fun, and that was what mattered the most. Once again, I took everyone out for ice cream, but the mood wasn’t quite as enthusiastic this time around.

Once the baseball season was over, we began planning for Ricky’s birthday party. I had been talking to him about his guest list and what he wanted to do, but he had not yet worked out all the details. One afternoon he came to speak to me, telling me he needed to ask me a question.

“Dad, I’m having a problem deciding who I think I should ask to my birthday party. I want to invite all the guys on my baseball team, but I also want to invite Danny’s friends from Springville. What do you think I should do?”

“Well, that is a very large number of people, if we invited them all,” I replied, trying to decide how we should handle this. Not only would I have to deal with helping him work this out, but I also had to make sure I didn’t appear to be showing favoritism, by doing more for Ricky than I had done for Danny. “Why don’t you go get your brother and we’ll discuss this as a family,” I finally suggested.

Ricky nodded and went off to find Danny and soon they were standing in front of me in the living room. “What’s up, Dad?” Danny asked, as he entered.

“We need to discuss something,” I told him, “so why don’t you boys sit down here beside me and we’ll talk things out.” The boys did as I asked, both sitting on the same side of me, with Danny being the closest.

“Danny, one of the reasons I wanted you to be a part of this decision,” I began, “is because I didn’t want you to feel cheated or think that Ricky was getting more than I did for you. He’s having trouble deciding who he wants to invite to his party, as he’s torn between inviting the team and your friends from Springville.”

“You don’t have to feel that way, Dad,” he explained, “and Ricky doesn’t have to feel like he needs to invite my old friends.”

“But I don’t feel that I HAVE to invite them,” Ricky protested, “I just WANT to. I like them and they’ve become my friends too.” Danny smiled broadly after listening to what Ricky said.

“I’m glad you feel that way,” Danny told him, “because I know they like you too.” Danny now looked away from Ricky and up at me. “As far as I’m concerned,” he told me, “Ricky can invite as many people as he wants to. I’ll have as much fun as he will, and I like all those guys too, so he can ask them all. It’s fine with me.”

“Are you sure you won’t feel like you got gypped then?” I pressed.

“No, Dad,” Danny responded. “In fact, I kind of hope he does invite them all.” Ricky was just beaming now, knowing he had his brother’s support.

“Ricky, it looks like the guest list is up to you then,” I advised him, before waiting to see what he wanted to do. It didn’t take him long to fill me in.

“Thanks, bro,” Ricky told Danny. “That was nice of you. You know, we’ll have enough people to play touch football on the side yard. Would that be okay, Dad?”

“Of course,” I responded, although I think he already knew what I was going to say. “Just let everyone know about your plans, so they don’t wear good clothes to the party. I wouldn’t want any of their mothers getting upset if they came home dirty, grass stained or if their clothing got ripped.” Both boys grinned.

“Sure, Dad, I’ll tell them,” Ricky confirmed. “This is going to be great.” I waited a few seconds for him to suggest something more, but when he didn’t, I decided to offer him an idea.

“We could also make this a sleepover, if you were interested,” I added, confident that I knew his answer in advance. Ricky began to respond, but then stopped, and he looked intently at his brother instead.

“What do you think, Danny?” he asked, seeking his advice.

“I think I like the idea,” Danny replied, honestly. “I was wondering if Dad would let us do that.”

“Then we’ll do it,” Ricky informed me. “Oh, this is going to be a lot of fun. Thanks, Dad.”

“You’re welcome,” I told him. “Now, your birthday is on a Friday, so why don’t we plan the party for that Saturday. We can take everyone home Sunday, sometime before dinnertime.”

“That sounds awesome,” Ricky responded.

“Ricky, do you want me to help you e-mail my friends?” Danny offered.

“Yeah, I was going to ask you if you would,” Ricky informed him. “Thanks.” The boys went off to do their thing and soon the invitations were being sent to the boys from Springville. Ricky invited his baseball team over the telephone, as we had a list of their names and phone numbers handy. Everyone accepted, except for one boy who would be out of town on vacation.

Seeing how many times I had been forced to borrow my friend’s van, I concluded it was time to purchase a van of my own. I also determined it would probably be best to do this before the party, since it would come in handy transporting everyone back and forth. Not only that, I had some other plans in mind for which I would probably need a van. That afternoon I called a friend of mine, who owned a dealership, and told him what I was looking for. He advised me that he had a few vehicles that might meet my requirements, so I told him I’d drop by later to check them out. I took the boys with me, to get their input.

We looked at a number of vehicles, some commercial, some passenger, and some custom, and even though the boys and I were impressed with the custom vans, we felt a passenger van would suit our needs best. Besides, the boys thought being able to look out the windows while we were traveling would beat the few benefits a custom van might offer. That would be especially true when we had all of their friends with us, as they wouldn’t have to fight over looking out a window and there would actually be more room to seat all of the boys. Once we had that settled, we just needed to pick out the color, and then wait a couple of days to pick it up.

The morning of the party, we drove out to pick up the boys from Springville. The boys commented immediately about having a different van and they let us know how nice they thought it was. On the way back, we stopped to get a few of the boys from their baseball team, but most of their teammates didn’t need a ride. Either their parents were going to drop them off at our place or the boys were going to ride their bikes there, but there were a couple who lived a little farther out and needed a ride. Once we had everyone inside the van, it was more than crowded. Some of the boys even had to sit on someone else’s lap, but no one seemed to mind. We stowed their belongings under the seats and wherever else we could find, and then headed home.

After we unloaded everything and took it into the family room, the boys decided they wanted to play football first. I suggested a game of touch football, or even flag football, but the boys all thought those ideas were pretty wimpy. They were determined to play tackle. Going against my better judgment, and already picturing boys with broken bones and concussions, I agreed with their suggestion – but only if I was the referee and could keep the game under control. They gave in to that stipulation and then played for over an hour.

Once they got tired and ready to quit, I asked if anyone was hungry and received a resounding ‘YES’ in response. I started up the grill and we had a cookout. I fixed hamburgers and hotdogs, to go along with the macaroni and potato salads I had fixed earlier. We also had a large selection of beverages for them to choose from, including water, milk, juices and soda.

We had invited Sally to this party as well, and I had told her what time to arrive. It worked out well, as she arrived just in time to join the rest of us to eat. The boys introduced her to those she hadn’t met yet, but I could tell the boys found it awkward to keep calling her Mrs. Swarthout. I knew they felt closer to her than that, so after talking it over with Sally, we suggested to Danny and Ricky that they could call her Aunt Sally from now on. She liked that idea as much, if not more than the boys did, as it made her feel like part of the family, and the boys seemed more comfortable with it too. In fact, before long, it seemed like all of the boys were calling her Aunt Sally or referring to her as Danny or Ricky’s Aunt Sally.

Once all of the troops were fed, we decided to let Ricky open his presents, before having the cake and ice cream. Danny had given Ricky his gift earlier, before we went to pick up the other boys, because he knew he would need it once everyone arrived. It was the new football they had played with earlier. Ricky’s reaction when he opened the gift had been priceless and very animated, as he was very relieved they wouldn’t have to use the battered old football that he and Danny had been practicing with, on and off. That was another relic leftover from when my other children had been young, which had long ago served its purpose and seen better days.

Ricky’s friends gave him some nice things too, although we had suggested they didn’t have to do that. When we saw the boys, or their parents, weren’t going to let the idea of a gift slide, I suggested they get together in groups, and pool their money. That way Ricky wouldn’t end up with more than Danny had, although I didn’t think Danny would let that bother him, and it would cost the boys less. They did take that advice and things seemed to have worked out for all of us.

Sally gave Ricky an identical gift to the one she had given Danny, two pairs of shorts and two shirts to match. Once again, they were things that were popular among the boys today, and the rest of the group made many positive comments about Sally’s selections. I think both she and Ricky appreciated what was said.

When it came time for him to open my presents, he soon unwrapped a lacrosse stick and ball, so he could practice with Danny, a basketball, and a fold-up portable basketball hoop for the driveway. That way, we could take it down and put it away during the winter. Seeing both boys planned on playing basketball and lacrosse during the school year, this would give them the opportunity to continue practicing with each other. The only difference between the boys’ gifts had been that Danny received the soccer ball and goal for soccer and lacrosse, as it was adjustable, and Ricky was given the basketball and hoop, but I was positive they would end up sharing everything.

We brought out the cake and ice cream next. It was a large sheet cake, because I knew the boys would eat more than just one piece each, but we still cut everyone a generous portion. We also offered them the choice of four flavors of ice cream, which I had purchased in two-and-a- half gallon buckets, because that too would probably have to last the whole time as well. It’s a good thing I have a large freezer.

The boys wanted to go swimming right after they finished eating, but I made them wait for a while first. In the interim, Ricky asked me to help them set up the basketball hoop, which I did. Once we had it up and operational, the boys played around with it until I told them they could go in the pool. They swam until dinnertime, but the pool was quite crowded with everyone in it, although it didn’t seem to faze the boys and they enjoyed themselves anyway.

After I got them out of the pool, dried off and changed, we ate. I had several sheet pizzas delivered to the house and set them out along with bags of chips, corn chips, cheese curls and pretzels, plus a large tossed salad Sally helped me throw together. Needless to say, the food disappeared quickly, but they all got full before it was gone. Once we had eaten, Sally and I sat and chatted for a while, but the boys went off to do a variety of things. Some got a basketball game going, others were tossing the football around again and some went inside to play games on the computer or play ping-pong in the rec room. Since they’d all been at our house at least twice before, I was happy to give them all their space and spend some time alone chatting with my old friend.

Sally just went on and on about how pleased she was seeing the boys so happy and doing so well, and she thanked me several times for all I’d done for them. I didn’t want to appear rude and argue with her, but I thought I needed to get some things clarified. “Sally, I’ve actually done very little for them, except provide a place for them to live. They have been super to have around and I think they’ve done more for me, than I’ve done for them.”

“How do you figure that, Josh?” she asked.

“Well, they seem to brighten every day for me,” I explained. “They’ve made me feel young again and given me a reason to come home at the end of the day.” She looked at me as if she still didn’t understand, so I continued. “Sally, after my wife died, I rattled around in this house all by myself and I hated it. My children were grown and living on their own and none of them lived close by, so I usually only saw them on the holidays. That was nice, but it left over 350 days they weren’t here, but I still was. I began leaving the house as early as I could in the morning and then stayed away for as long as possible at night, just trying to be around others. I even became active in all kinds of different organizations, just so I wouldn’t be alone, but it wasn’t satisfying. All that changed, however, the day you brought Ricky here and it only got better after you dropped Danny off too.”

“I think I understand what you’re trying to say,” she confirmed, “but don’t sell yourself short. I deal with a lot of children, in many different homes, and I’ve never felt I’ve had the success that I’ve seen here. I can tell from just watching and listening to the boys that you’ve done a great deal for them, even if you won’t admit it or fail to realize that yourself. They truly love you, and that doesn’t generally happen when I make foster placements. They may like or even have a fondness for each other, but very seldom can I say they really love each other, as is obvious here.”

“Thank you, Sally, and I’m glad you feel that way,” I told her, “but I kind of feel I was playing with a stacked deck. By having you hand pick the boys for me, how could I lose?” She looked shocked that I had suggested such a thing.

“Josh, I didn’t do that,” she stated, almost as if she were trying to convince me she was telling the truth. “I may have decided to bring them here, but I wasn’t doing you any favor. With the information I had about both boys, I wasn’t sure how you were going to get along. Even though I knew Ricky went to your school, my information said he was a behavioral problem, but I thought you could deal with that. As far as Danny was concerned, I was worried if others found out about the reasons his father threw him out, he might become a target, and I thought you might best be able to prevent that from happening. Josh, I didn’t place them here to benefit you - but for you to benefit them.”

Now I was confused. “Sally, I just assumed, after seeing them fit in so well and realizing what great kids they were, that you were giving me a break, because I was new to this.”

“Nice thought,” she told me, letting out a little chuckle as she did so, “but that’s not how it went down.”

“I’m sorry if I offended you by saying that,” I apologized, “but it just went so smoothly, well, I couldn’t believe that happened accidentally.”

“Josh, I’m not offended,” she replied. “In fact, I’m honored to think you even considered that I might have done that for you, but honestly, I was doing what I felt was in the boys’ best interest, not yours.” We talked about this a little while longer and Sally finally convinced me it was just a coincidence that both boys worked out so well, but we had to stop when a fight broke out during the basketball game. I just happened to be looking toward where the boys were playing and saw a couple of punches being thrown, so I jumped up and raced off in that direction. I’m sure Sally was baffled by my actions, but I didn’t have time to explain. When I got there, I grabbed the two boys who seemed to be involved in the fracas.

“Okay, what’s going on here?” I demanded.

“He hacked me real hard,” the right fielder from the boys’ baseball team screamed, while pointing at one of Danny’s friends.

“I got tripped,” the other boys shot back. “I didn’t mean to foul him like that.”

“Yeah, sure,” the first boy shouted back. “You freaking farmers have no coordination and play dirty.”

“That’s enough of that,” I announced, quite loudly. “I’ll not have anyone insult anyone else and I will not tolerate fighting.”

“He had it coming,” the right fielder retorted, his nostrils flaring, arms flexed and fists clenched.

“Look, it either ends here and now,” I stated emphatically, “or I’ll be taking one or both of you home. It’s your choice. What’s it going to be?” I knew Danny’s friend wasn’t going to be a problem, but I wasn’t sure about the other boy. I looked directly at him until he answered me.

“Okay, it’s over,” he told me, though not convincingly.

“It better be,” I rejoined, “or you’ll be out of here in a heartbeat. Now, shake hands and let’s put an end to this nonsense.” Danny’s friend was a little hesitant, but he did offer his hand, but the right fielder didn’t respond right away either.

“Do it now or go get your things,” I told him, and after he glared at me for a few seconds, he shook the other boy’s hand. I wasn’t thrilled with his response and vowed I would keep one eye on him the rest of the time he was here, but I would give him another chance.

After going back to apologize to Sally, this time for leaving her so abruptly, she told me it wasn’t necessary and she understood. A short time later, she informed me she had to leave, so I walked her around to say good-bye to Danny and Ricky. Both boys gave her a hug and a kiss on the cheek and Ricky thanked her for his present. They both said, “Good-bye, Aunt Sally,” as she walked away, which caused her to turn and wave at them, before she got in her car.

It was starting to get dark, so I suggested the boys should come inside, but some of them wanted to play hide-and-go-seek again. I decided to let those who wanted to play stay out and told the rest they could watch television, play in the rec room, play a board game or play games on the computer. It turned out I had some doing each, with some of Danny’s friends opting to play another game of ‘Life,’ which they had played against Danny and Ricky the last time they were here. A couple of the curious baseball players asked if they could play too, and were told they could, but the right fielder was not among them. He opted for the computer games, so I hung out in a location where I could see what he was up to.

While watching him, I noticed that he and the left fielder kept putting their heads together and whispering back and forth. I wondered what they were up to, thinking they might be planning some sort of revenge against the boy he felt had wronged him earlier, but I wouldn’t jump to conclusions and would merely wait and see what happened next. There was an outside chance they might only be involved in telling some harmless jokes or sharing some other harmless boy stuff, although I sincerely doubted that. They seemed to be too serious, possibly even arguing about whatever it was they were discussing.

About an hour later, the boys who were outside came back in, so I suggested that anyone who wanted to shower could do so. I think all of the boys eventually took one and it’s a good thing I have two fast recovering water heaters hooked to the different bathrooms. It did take a little more than twice as long as it had when Danny’s friends had slept over, but that was only because there were more boys this time around. Once they finished, they all joined me in the family room, because I had told them we had a movie to watch next. Most had pestered me for the title, which I kept tight-lipped about, but they still thought watching a movie was a good idea. While they were cleaning up, I had made several batches of popcorn and dragged out more bags of snacks for them to munch on, and then we all got comfortable in front of our television, while Ricky popped the movie in.

The family room was quite crowded with all the boys in there and some decided to lay on the floor, while others found a chair or sat on the floor, while leaning back against a patch of wall or one of the pieces of furniture. The boys ate and drank, while their eyes stayed glued to the screen, and we only had one accident, when one of the boys’ drinks accidentally got knocked over. I cleaned it up quickly, and it was no big deal, although he told me numerous times how sorry he was.

When the movie ended, I had the boys grab their bedding and told them they could either sleep in the family room or living room, as I wasn’t sure they could all squeeze into one location. They insisted they could, so they chose the family room, which was larger. I had suggested, in advance, that the boys who owned a sleeping bag should bring it with them, and I then I loaned ours to the boys who didn’t have access to one. I had purchased new sleeping bags for Danny and Ricky and had given them to them on Friday, as I thought it was time they had one of their own, rather than having to rely on hand-me-downs. That gave me extras for times like this, so I had enough for the others to use as well. Once the boys settled in, I was coerced into telling them another one of my ghost stories before they went to sleep. Danny, Ricky, and the boys from Springville watched the others intently while I told my story, which was different from any I had told them previously. Once I’d finished, I could tell it had its desired effect, as many of the boys kept glancing around the room, looking for ghosts. As I left the room, I knew the boys from Springfield were also anticipating my appearance at the family room’s picture window again, so I didn’t disappoint them. They howled as the other boys reacted to my antics and we all had a good laugh when I came back in to join them.

I went to my bedroom and grabbed my pillow and a blanket, and then I slept on the sofa in the family room near the boys, as I wasn’t sure I could leave them alone after the fight earlier. The right and left fielders were set up side by side, but I was surprised by something else. When I looked around to check on Danny and Ricky, I was surprised to see Ricky bedded down next to the team’s first baseman, a redheaded boy named Jay Curtis. I didn’t know they were that close, other than playing side-by-side all season long.

The night was uneventful and I woke up before the boys the next morning. I had told the boys earlier we could skip church this Sunday, which they seemed to appreciate. I did this because I wasn’t sure what churches the other boys attended and didn’t want to create any problems by taking them to our place of worship. I didn’t think God would mind if we skipped one Sunday.

It took quite a while to feed all of the boys breakfast the next morning, but Danny, Ricky and Brandon all helped out. They took out the dishes, juice, milk, cereal, butter, jelly and cream cheese for me, and they also made toast, toasted the English muffins and prepared bagels for those who wanted them. I took care of the eggs, bacon and sausage, and I even made some home fries and pancakes, as an extra little treat. I think everyone was full before they left the table.

I gave them a couple of hours to do whatever they wanted, even if it was just to rest and chill out, but around noon I made them all get dressed to go out, because we had something special to do after lunch. After fixing them sandwiches and subs for lunch, which took a ton of lunchmeat, I loaded them into the van and drove into town. Ricky and Danny had decided previously that today would be a good day to play miniature golf and I thought that was a wonderful idea.

Their friends seemed to agree too, judging from the comments they made when we pulled into the parking lot. After paying for everyone and getting them set up, we chose up teams and decided to make it a competition. I assigned teams of four boys each, mixing the baseball players in with Danny’s friends to make up the different teams. I chose that number of players because it worked out to be an even divisor for the number of boys we had in total. I even put the two fighters on the same team, although not in the same group, as they played around the course. What I did have the boys do was this: I had two boys from one team join up and play against two boys from another team, so the players on one team couldn’t cheat or fudge their scores by being together. It was also meant to increase their fun. When they were done, I would add up all their scores and announce the winners, but they didn’t know I had another little surprise for the winners.

The team that won came as a complete shock to me, as it was the group that included the two who had been fighting earlier. When I announced their names and then awarded them a five-dollar gift certificate from Wal-Mart as their prize, they began high-fiving and hugging each other, even the two who had previously been on the outs. I wasn’t sure it was going to last, but at least for the time being they had forgotten about their previous problem.

When we got back home, the boys wanted to take another swim before they had to go home, so they all changed and hopped into the pool again. They stayed out there for an hour or more, and then I told them it was time to get out, dry off and change again, as some of their parents would be showing up soon. It was about that time when the right fielder came over to apologize to Ricky and me. He said he was sorry for spoiling the good time and for causing me problems. He even went out and apologized to the other boy too, sounding very sincere in his effort.

This only added to my confusion about him, and I was still trying to sort out my thoughts when the left fielder came up to speak to me. “He isn’t a bad guy, you know,” he began, referring to his friend. “It’s just that sometimes he blows up over nothing. I think he gets that from his father. His old man does that all the time, especially to him.” I began to understand the boy a little better.

“I’m sorry to hear that,” I told him, “but he has to learn to control that impulse.”

“He’s trying,” the left fielder insisted, “like now, when he apologized to all of you.”

“That was appreciated,” I replied, “but it makes me wonder why he did that all of the sudden.”

“It was because I’ve been telling him that if he didn’t, he would probably never get invited back here again. I know those other boys have been here a lot and are close to Danny and Ricky too, so I told him he’d have to make friends with them or HE’D be the one getting left out.”

“Well, you’re probably right about that,” I admitted, “but was he just saying the words, or did he mean them?”

“I think he really meant them,” he informed me. “He’s really had a great time here and told me he’d like to be able to come back again. When I pointed out that he might not get that chance, he got really upset. That’s when he asked me if I thought it would help if he told you all how sorry he was. I really think he meant it.”

“Well, I hope so, and we’ll give him another chance,” I replied, “but just one. If he blows that, he won’t get another.”

“Okay, I’ll tell him,” the boy replied, “but I’m sure he won’t do that again. Okay?”

“Okay,” I told him.

A little while later, the last of the boys waiting for rides had been picked up by their parents, so I loaded those who still remained into the van and drove them home. It was a pleasant drive and each boy thanked us profusely before they left. We told them they were welcome and we looked forward to having them again, and then we drove the rest of them home.

Later Sunday evening, I sprung my last surprise on my sons. “Danny and Ricky, I have something that I’d like to tell you,” I announced. They both came closer, but looked puzzled. “How would you two like to go on a vacation and spend the last week of July and the first two weeks of August touring through Maryland, Virginia, and Washington DC?”

I didn’t have to guess about their answer, as they began jumping up and down, before running around the room yelling things like ‘yes’, ‘cool’, and ‘way to go, Dad’.

“We’ll take the van and you can each invite one friend,” I continued. “When you decide which friend you’d like to invite, I’ll speak with his parents. How does that sound to you?” Both boys started jumping around again, and then they hugged me for all they were worth. I advised them they’d have to decide whom they wanted to ask fairly soon, as I would need to talk with their parents as soon as possible, to make sure they approved and would be able to fit this into their schedule. As the boys started to think about whom they were going to ask, I put the finishing touches on the plans for our trip.