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| I spent part of my 29th birthday at a trampoline facility trying to escape from a foam pit. (Photo by Whitney Murray Brown) |
By Will Brown
The morning began with a text from someone from Texas (Nov.
17) who I didn’t expect to hear from. It came in at 8:35 a.m. and it woke me
from a dream that wasn’t worth remembering.
The message set off a day where my aim was to remain low
key. Celebrations, dinner parties, birthday cakes and everything else will be
back for next year’s 30th birthday. But, as I entered the last year
of my 20s, my goal for Wednesday was to treat it like any other November day.
Dipping temperatures and swirling winds were nature’s way of
letting me know it was Nov. 13. Additional texts from (Aug. 1) (Aug. 3), (Nov.
13) and (Aug. 21) further reminded me.
Like clockwork, I was on the phone with my mom (Jan 9) at
11:13 a.m. This year, she called me at 11:12 because she was unsure that modern
technology would connect us at exactly the time I was born. (It’s an annual
tradition for her to call me at 11:13 a.m. because that was when I was born.)
My cousin (May 20) and his wife (July 31) wanted to check
out a local eatery that has been a staple of the Jacksonville for decades. We
decided to check it out before they left for life in South Florida later in the
week.
Metro Diner has a lot of good dishes, but I can only vouch
for the chicken and waffles. Wednesday was probably the fifth time I’ve eaten
there and the fifth time I ordered the chicken and waffles. My only
disappointment was I couldn’t finish my meal.
My newest parents (May 18) and (Feb. 10) like to razz me about
being on social media all the time.
After Wednesday’s great meal with great friends, I posted a picture on
Instagram about where we enjoyed our brunch. As soon as the picture hit social
media my Birthday Buddy (Nov. 13), a great friend from our church in Texas
(Dec. 24), and old friend (Nov. 2) and a former colleague of mine (Aug. 31)
liked the photo.
As the afternoon wore on and I received more texts (July 17),
(Oct. 31) and (July 26) as well as calls from (Jan. 7), (Nov. 6), (Oct. 8) and
(Apr. 15) I started to feel a bit ashamed for not remembering to
call/contact/send a card on people’s birthdays. The person who brought out the
guilt (Nov. 18) is someone I haven’t spoken with in months for no reason other
than the fact we don’t have much to discuss.
Rather than let the nostalgia consume me, Whitney (June 27)
and I went to help my cousin and his family move. To others, packing up a 4,200
square foot house may not have been an ideal way to celebrate one’s birthday.
To me, it was a great opportunity to spend time with family and not be
self-absorbed.
No matter how much I tried to deflect the attention away
from myself Wednesday my wife, my cousin, his wife and their daughter (Oct. 24)
convinced me to check out an indoor trampoline arena. It’s probably not the
smartest idea to go to a trampoline facility without health insurance, but that’s
what we did.
Within 20 minutes of four adults, of which I was the oldest,
bouncing around a 24,000 square foot facility that smelled like paint thinner
there was an injury. Apparently, (July 31) was running, fell awkwardly and
turned her ankle.
Before we knew it, she was provided ice, placed in a
wheelchair, given an incident report to sign, handed rain checks and encouraged
to take the back door — away from other customers. The incident, and our
ability to joke about it once we found out (July 31) didn’t have a broken ankle,
was further proof all four of us have a few more sophomoric stunts in us.
More calls, texts and conversations ensued. One of the
funniest was with my 83-year old father (Feb. 11) who forgot about my birthday.
Rather than eat a nice dinner we ate pizza among the moving
boxes at my cousin’s house. (July 31) joked that next year we’re having a
candlelight dinner and doing nothing that requires any athleticism, running or
trampolines. Choosing the fellowship meant I didn’t get to go out to dinner.
Instead I got a lot of laughs, a text from (Nov. 10) and a call from (July 11)
and an apology sent to (Nov. 17).
The day ended at 12:15 a.m. when I found a card from my parents
laying on my computer: “Son, There is no way we could ever tell you how much we
love you, how much pride we have in you and the wonderful things you do…”
Somehow the heartfelt card from (May 18) and (Feb. 10) encapsulated Wednesday —
understated, but very appreciated.
Laughs and liveliness,
-Wb
