November 2, 2012

  • Teen Spirit

    Last night my son had a band concert.  My middle daughter and I went and we sat with their dad as we usually do at these events.

    We've been divorced for twelve years now.  Much longer apart than we were together.

    After the concert the kids and I were headed to the taco shop with the amazing pop machine and impulsively I said, "Would you like to come along?"

    "Sure, I'll come for chips and pop," he said.

    And that is how we found ourselves doing the most ordinary thing - sitting in a booth sharing chips and salsa and drinking pop from the machine that boasts there are 100 flavor possibilities.  Most families sit together and eat every day.  Our family sits together and eats on very rare occasions.

    We were talking about the funny places downtown and live music.

    "Your mom and I saw Nirvana at Duffy's next door," he said.  He grinned at me.  I grinned back.  I felt myself crack open a little bit inside and let in the happy, good memories of being together.  Duffy's is small.  The size of my living room and dining room at home.  We saw lots of great bands there before they were too big to play there anymore.

    My son was impressed.  "Wow!  What was that like?"  He meant the band, not dating each other. 

    "It was loud!" their dad said.  We laughed.  "I dunno.  I guess it is not as memorable as maybe it should have been.  I remember when Nevermind came out and we realized we had seen them a year ago.  That was pretty cool."

    He walked us companionably back to the van and then waved as he went to his car.  I have no desire to be with him.  I am glad we are apart.  I am also glad that we also get along well enough to sit at a band concert and go out for a snack.

Comments (3)

  • the weirdest thing to me about my parents' divorce was when, maaaany years later, they reached some sort of detente, and could occasionally be seen together in the same room. nothing made me feel more like a child again (not in any good or bad way, necessarily) than having Mom and Dad there at the same time. i was always amazed by divorced couples who maintained decent relations, it seemed extremely impressive.

  • sounds like A Good Day, and we take as many of those as we can get.. very nice.

    and pre-national Nirvana in an intimate club? that's supercool.

  • Cheers to being adults.

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