“Don’t know ’bout you two, but I’m gettin’ a bit hungry,” Jesse said as he stared at a cloud overhead that he thought looked like a floating pig.
Eli, staring intently at the chessboard, struggling a bit not to blurt out some random quip, had a suggestion, “That roach coach should be in the parking lot by now. Why don’t you take your levitating feet and get us all something to eat? Or is that a bit below your nutritional guide?” And there he did it. He couldn’t help himself. Eli had always been the witty one. A characteristic he took on from their great Uncle Jim. It was a rare photo where Uncle Jim wasn’t making a face – usually one where he pulled on his ears and stuck out his tongue. Eli had been exposed to this type of nostalgic humor longer than his brothers and, somewhere along the way, adopted it as a trait of his own.
“My ‘nutritional guide?’ you say? Is that a plug toward Eileen, Eli? You’d be smart to listen to some of her ideas about your eating habits.”
“You mean criticisms of how I eat, don’t you little bro? Yer wife presents her ‘ideas’ a bit stronger than a criticism, constructive or otherwise, don’t you think?”
“Alright, alright. Let’s not get started down that road – again! No, I’ll eat anything with how hungry I feel. Just don’t you go braggin’ to my wife you talked me into eatin’ some greasy burger. What do you both want?”
“Only jokin’ Jess. You’re secret’s safe with me. A burger and fries sounds good. Nothin’ fancy. And just a bottle of water.”
“Bottle of water, eh?” teased Percy. “Eileen musta got to you at some level, eh?”
“Yeah, well… Then we’re square. No one says anything to the wives about what we do here in the park, right?”
Jesse couldn’t resist, “Sorta like ‘what happens in Vegas, stays in Vegas’ eh Eli?”
“Yes – ‘little bro’ – exactly like that. Percy, tell the man what you want so we can eat something before it gets dark. And maybe, just maybe, we can finish this game!”
His brother’s orders in hand, Jesse sauntered to the parking lot and the lunch wagon, taking note of other people in the park as he went. With the lunch wagon in sight, he now observed a line of people. Making his way to the end of the line, he stood behind a young woman pushing a stroller. Smiling wide, he took the liberty of looking around to see what, or rather who, the stroller carried.
“Ah, a fine looking boy miss!”
“Thank you sir! His name is Billy. He’s two and a half.”
“Hey there Billy! My name is Jesse – Jesse Rowe. And I am very glad to meet you young man.”
“I’m sorry,” apologized the young mother. “My name is Janie, Janie Dobbs.”
“Oh, please don’t apologize, miss. I did not mean to pry. It’s just that I have several grandchildren which are all grown now. I miss it when they were Billy’s age here. Seems like just yesterday I’d bounce ’em around a bit and draw squiggles with them. Of course, not that they aren’t a pleasure to be around now.”
“No worries Mr. Rowe.”
“Jesse, please.”
“Okay… Jesse. While we’re waiting here, what exactly is ‘squiggles’? I don’t think I’ve ever heard of that one.”
“Before your time, my dear. Or, maybe not. I don’t really know it’s origin. It’s a game my own grandfather played with me. It’s rather simple, really. I’d have one of my grandkids make a squiggle on a piece of paper – any sort of silly shape or line they wished. Then I would make a picture they could recognize out of it. After a while they would turn the tables on me and have me draw a squiggle for them to make into a picture. A simple game that entertained us for quite a while really.”
“Sounds like creative fun. I will definitely have my husband play that with Billy. Or maybe I will. Seems like an opportunity for some male to male interaction, though. We are trying to keep him away from techy type toys as much as possible. His father, that is, Zed, my husband, made him a set of custom wood blocks in his garage shop. Made an open wood box for them too. Most of the block sets you find today are plastic – the Lego type blocks. But these blocks are of various sizes and shapes. Billy loves them.”
“I’ll be darned!” exclaimed Jesse. “Our dad, that is my brother’s and my father, built us the exact type of set. That is fantastic. You should be proud of your efforts. Is Billy your only child?”
“Yes, he’s our first. We plan to have another. We hope to have a girl, a sister for Billy. My husband calls it pursuing the American Dream. He has unique views on life.”
As the two were getting closer to the window of the lunch wagon, they continued their conversation.
“If you don’t mind my asking Janie, what does the ‘American Dream’ mean to you?”
“Zed has asked me that on many an occasion. I don’t think I’ve ever really answered him properly. Maybe I should try an answer with you, help me get my thoughts straight – if you don’t mind of course.”
“Of course not! I wouldn’t ask the question if I didn’t desire an answer. It’s just an old man’s curiosity, that’s all.”
Janie paused for a couple of moments to consider her response. As she did so, she was next in line to order her food.
“What can we make for you, m’am?” asked the young man in the coach.
Caught off guard, she answered, “Oh just a small burger and fries. That’s it.”
“Something to drink?”
“No thank you, I have water.”
Janie paid for her food, then moved off to the pick up window as Jesse placed his order for himself and his brothers. After he finished paying, he moved over next to the young mother as they waited for their orders.
Jesse broke the uncomfortable silence, “So, the ‘American Dream’. Have you thought what that means to you, Janie?”
“Well, I was always taught that the American Dream is the idea that the government should protect each person’s opportunity to pursue their own personal idea of happiness.”
“And is that your view as an adult and a mother?” Jesse asked but continued, “But I guess the if the American dream is meant to obtain happiness, the bigger question becomes what is happiness to you?”
“Order for Janie!” came a cry from the pick up window.
Janie paused in a sense of deep thought as her stare at Jesse was broken by the young man’s call. “Um, well. Oh, sorry. Let me get my food.”
“Of course my dear. You must have to go your way anyway. My food will be up soon and I’ll have to get it back to my starving brothers.”
“Well,” Janie said, earnestly wanting to answer the question for herself as well as Jesse. “I guess happiness for me is my husband and my child – love I guess is my idea of happiness. To have genuine love in one’s life and to foster that love for the future in our children, all children.”
“Order for Jesse!”
Jesse paused with an ear to ear grin as he took in the look of confidence in Janie’s face with her answer. As he took hold of the two bags of food from the window, he kept his eyes focused on hers. “My dear, you have hit the proverbial nail on the head. I have enjoyed our little chat and will remember it. It is my hope you will let that thought finish your day when you and your son are back home with your husband Zed. With the passion you have dug that answer from within your own heart – he must know. Thank you so much and have a wonderful afternoon.”
Smiling wide, “Thank you Jesse. Really – thank you. You have a wonderful afternoon as well. And I will most certainly do as you suggest.” With that, she turned the stroller away from Jesse and was on her way.
Jesse watched her for a few moments before he himself smiled wide, took in a deep breath, turned and walked his way back to his brothers. While his smile remained, it’s focus changed as he said aloud, “Now that’s a question those two old men must be asked. I wonder how their answers will compare to Janie’s.”