nathan...did we have chemistry together?

today i got a little e-mail from classmates dot com telling me that two friends had signed my guestbook and if i wanted to see who they were, i needed to fork over the dough. seeing the list of classmates that have registered and the timing, it was easy to figure out the puzzle without spending the money. i looked at photographs of classmates and saw the fuzzy lines and changed shapes of faces over the years. these people are just names now that used to be in my yearbook.

i look and only one person that i used to hang out with is in the list with me. i, along with other friends, ran the streets of montgomery in a little orange maverick that mary drove. we had good times.

now my nephew goes to the magnet school in the old neighborhood. the one that i used to ride with my friends. the baskin robins where we had ice cream is gone. the church where beverly got married is now a day care (excuse me, child learning center). ted's house we carelessly decorated with toilet paper now belongs to someone else, the bricks slowly falling in the front.

my nephew stands on the playground talking to his friends while the car pool line crawls slowly. waiting for the kids to notice we're there. taking care not to honk the horn and call attention to the parental units waiting. he's laughing and talking. his dark hair being ruffled by the wind (or his friends). slowly he turns as i wait. he's growing way too fast but yet he seems so very small.

he dashes to car - 'sorry, sorry' as he knows i've waited a bit. i pretend to be irritated but we laugh. he turns up the volume on the radio. we like to listen to the comedy station as we drive. laughing together at some jokes...me flipping the radio suddenly if they're a bit inappropriate. it's a good time really. i'm glad i got to do this - it makes up a bit for the losses i've had this year. it's all part of the little pieces of happiness we all seek for ourselves.

this is a part of his landscape now. the things he will remember - the brightness of the sun - the heat of the pavement - the leather seats in my car and hopefully, laughter. plenty of laughter.