Sunday, July 9, 2017

What it feels like to be loved



Yesterday was great, a pool party at a friend's house. The kids all had a fun time. The parents and friends all had a fun time. Friends arrived from both sides of the state - Melbourne and Tampa. It was everything that I hoped a visit to Florida would be. That was only day one. 

The underwater camera was a hit. Everybody was able to take a turn or two with it and everybody in the water had their underwater picture taken. 

Novelty, sure. I didn't have time to set up any lights or a set....



You accumulate a few friends in 50 years. That is the idea anyway, I think. I suppose you don't have to, but I'm glad that I did. If your friends happen have kids then your population of friends doubles, and kids are easily twice as much fun to play with. It helps if you really like kids, which I now do. It is perhaps a lucky byproduct of being a dad. 


This afternoon, again, there will be another get-together. We were limited in terms of space at the pool party. I did not want to overrun my friend's house with a horde of unknown visitors, so I kept the invites there to a minimum. I tried to invite only those people with kids, or people who could not make it today. So, today we will go meet more people at a local sport's bar at 4pm. Gator's Dockside in Lake Mary, if you're reading this and live locally and are so inclined to stop by and say, Hello! 


More than just my feelings about yesterday, everyone seemed genuinely pleased to meet Rhys, many for the first time. I know parental pride is silly nonsense that almost anybody can feel, but that doesn't make it any less real as a feeling. My son is growing up to become a very sweet and well-mannered boy. All of the kids there yesterday were the same, but mine was more so, of course.

I was wowing the youths with my aerial acrobatics and many feats of anti-gravitational semi-aquatic daring. 








Water slows a 210 pound object down at just the right rate when catapulted from the edge so as not to do damage to the object itself. A lucky relationship that has always been. Kids love a pool. I have never bothered growing up. 

Well, there is only so much that can be written about how happy a thing made you and I've likely already exceeded that upper limit. So, I'll stop. The happiness of others does not hold interest for very long. It can only be shared in the most modest of terms, and even that seems somehow excessive. 


I'm not sure what I had hoped to get out of a trip to Florida, at least for myself - it was mostly to let Rhys meet and play with his cousins and our friends' kids. In with all of that slid the feeling of being loved myself, to feel myself loved by others. It is a powerfully good feeling. Everybody should give it a try. 

I'll try it again today, as time will let me.








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