Celebrating The Caregivers

Hey, man. How's them new pants working out?

So, anyway, like I was saying: I am married to a wonderful lady. Some time ago, Janneke got the idea that we should somehow thank the many people who have helped Q along the way over the years - his daycare providers, his teachers, his coaches, his instructors. So she organized herself, and sent out invitations. I'll have to ask her what the precise wording was - something about this being a celebration, not of Q, who has had and will have plenty of that, but of these wonderful people who've helped him out for so long, with such care and affection.

There were some 40 people invited; of those, 28 said they could make it. The whole thing was to hit the fan today at 5:00. We (and when I say "we", I mean Janneke) ordered some "flautas" (crispy chicken tacos) and quesadillas from Coyote Flaco, bought a bunch of hooch and seltzer, cleaned up the entire house, and prepared for an onslaught of Q's mentors.

I contributed the following:

I drove to Coyote Flaco and paid for & picked up the food.

I dropped Q off for his piano lesson with Ed on the way there.

I carried the big table upstairs from the basement.

I put the ice in the coolers.

I vacuumed in the kids' rooms.

The rest was all Janneke. Incredible, the way she makes everything come together in such an elegant and tasteful way. The munchies were all out, the weather was seeming to hold (showers had been predicted; we decided to risk it and set up on the deck), and the doorbell rang.

One by one, major figures from Q's - and T's, in many cases - filed through the door. It was a love fest, let me tell you - three of his daycare teachers from WAY back, his first, second, fourth, fifth, sixth-grade, and kindergarten teachers; the school librarian; his gym teacher; the director and a staff member of the Youth Center; his soccer coach, Blair Dils; the friggin' Williams College soccer coach, Mike Russo, who runs the spring soccer program Q plays in (and this, on the Friday of Alumni Weekend at the college - pressed as he was, he made time for Q); Q's piano teacher, Ed, who drove him home from the lesson...Great, great folks, and I'm sure I'm leaving out many. Not near the number we had expected - and I do mean "expected"; Janneke is a stickler for RSVPs - came, in the end, but that might have been for the best, because we all fit very nicely on the deck. I clanged on a beer bottle (best I could do), and Janneke and I toasted them all.

There were tears, believe it or not. And Dave Rempell, the director of the Youth Center, reciprocated out toast with some wonderful words about how Q and T are such great kids, and how clear it is to all of them that it's to do with how great their family life is. It was a very, very nice moment.

My favorite part of it was watching Q watch me. As I talked about how proud and unconcerned I had become of him, he just grinned, un-self-conscious, open, relaxed, beaming with happiness and confidence. A few other moments like that - Blair, Coach Russo, and Q, all in a triangle, talking soccer - Q told me later that Blair had described his goal from Tuesday's match to Coach Russo and had described it with some very high praise; T pulling Mr Spencer through the house to show her her room and our living room and our cat and on and on and on...And the weather held! It wasn't sunny - again, probably for the best - and not a drop of water fell on us. It has yet to rain, in fact - it's 11:02 PM, and nothing so far. Excellent luck all around.

Once everyone had left, Janneke pulled out a movie for us to watch (it is Friday, after all), and we settled in among the dishes and napkins, and I fell very pleasantly asleep on the couch.

It was a great end to a great day - but I just can't say enough about Janneke's originality and gumption for pulling this thing off. As far as I know, nobody had ever done anything like it - gathering all a boy's teachers and mentors, w/o spouses, w/o other kids, for a couple of hours and celebrating them. It was a huge hit.

OK, man - I've hit the wall. School let out for me today - I go to Cincinnati on Monday, to grade AP tests, and two days of school will happen while I'm there. But I've taught my last class of the year. The summer should see some good bloggin'. Don't fret - I'm going to get better and better about this. Even as I get worse and worse about Facebook.

I hope so, anyway.