It will soon be the end of the school year, just one more week and we’ll have more than two months of freedom, at least that’s what all the kids are saying. I really like school myself and , and I’ll miss seeing Miss Applebee, but of course, I can’t tell the other kids that. It is going to be good to have a break though. Danny and I will have lots of fun with Charlie and Buster. We’re going to be in little league baseball this summer too. Danny’s dad is the coach, and Mom and dad are going to be there for our first practice and grandpa Wright as well. Grandma can’t make it this time but says she’ll be there for our first game. Somehow I get the feeling that she hasn’t got the same interest as grandpa, he’s always taking about the major leagues and which teams are playing and what games are going to be televised, the whole nine yards.
Grandma pays no attention at all, that is unless it interferes with her soaps, then she gets upset and appears to be angry with grandpa, although I’m sure it’s not HIS fault. I don’t know what she sees in those soaps either, one minute they’re kissing like everything was great, and the next they’re arguing, don’t make much sense to me. I hate this kissing stuff anyway, like dad kisses mom every time he comes home from work. Gee whiz, I thought they’d have grown out of that by now. One thing for sure, I’m never going to kiss an old girl – unless it’s mom or grandma of course, but they don’t count, I might even kiss my little sister – if no one was looking.
Danny’s grandpa died last week and he told me how his mom and grandma, and even his aunts and uncles were all crying when they came home from the hospital. Mom asked if he would like to sleep over with me that night, and his mom agreed. Danny talked about his grandpa a lot and even told me how they had planned to go fishing next month and that they were going to stay overnight in a cabin. After a while he was very quiet and I thought he’d fallen asleep, but only seconds later I could hear him sobbing into the pillow. “Max”, he finally whispered through his tears, “do you think I’ll ever see my grandpa again?” I couldn’t believe that Danny was actually asking this! I thought I was the only kid that thought about such things. “You know,” he said, “that stuff the minister talks about in church, like Jesus coming to take you to heaven, do you think maybe there’s something to it all”? Now, I’m only a kid, but even I knew that this wasn’t the time to talk about my doubts. Danny wanted to believe that he’d see his grandpa again, maybe that they would even go fishing someday. “Sure Danny“, I said softly, “Do you think your mom and dad would believe it if it wasn’t true?”