Less Goofy, More Sweet

GoofBoy and I were playing ball at the middle school close to our house. He likes hitting and I like pitching. Nothing is more satisfying then fooling an elementary school kid with a change-up. Well, nothing except knocking his “fastball” deep into the outfield.

Really, I want him to hit my pitches and I do my best to put them where he can hit them. This is exhausting since I also have to run down his line drives.

As we were playing a family walked by – dad, grandpa, son and dog. They stopped to watch us for a few minutes and I invited their boy to join us. As he came out to play with us it became evident that he walked and talked funny. He had something, I didn’t ask what. While he held the bat and threw awkwardly, he was really strong and hit and threw hard. More importantly, he seemed to have a great time and his presence meant I didn’t have to cover the field alone.

After a while grandpa joined in, since both GoofBoy and our new friend could hit to both sides of the field this was a welcome addition. Dad had to stay and hold the dog.

After quite a while they left. I pitched a bit more to GoofBoy and then we headed home. As we walked home we talked.

“Hey buddy,” I asked, “Is it ok that I invited that other kid to join us. You didn’t feel like I was ruining father-son time?”

“No dad it was fine. He had a good time with us.”

“And buddy, you could tell he was a little different…” I trailed off, leaving the question unasked.

“Yeah, he sure was different from me. He could hit.”

"You are one great kid," I told him, "Even if you can't hit an old man's change-up."

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I’ve been writing a lot about GoofGirl. She is really funny right now – and I just love her to death. Meanwhile, GoofBoy is growing up. Lots of his humor is more self-consciously funny and he is developing his own inside jokes with his friends. This is natural and as it should be, but it doesn’t provide for terrific blog material. But he is also decent, sweet, and kind. That’s worth a post or so.

And I love him to death too, even if he isn’t producing much blog-worthy material.