July 1981
Father and daughter rode their bikes down to the Memorial Union on a warm summer day. This wasn’t a new or special event as it was something they did on a fairly regular basis.
They parked their bikes and went inside to get ice cream. Again, nothing new. Taking their ice cream over to the pier and dangling their feet as they ate. They talked about the boats, about the clouds while they licked and licked. The girl knew that the best part of the ice cream was always the end. That very last bite.
When the girl finished her cone she looked up at her father and asked a question she was sure she knew the answer to, “Can I have another one?” Of course her father would say “no.” It was a shot in the dark. A totally absurd request. She knew all this but something in her nine year old body had to ask.
To her utter surprise her father looked down at his daughter, with a mischievous look in his eye and said, “Sure!” as he got up from the dock and started back towards the ice cream stand with his absolutely gobsmacked kid running behind.
January 2010
“Any requests from the store?” she asked her son. The only thing on his list? Ice cream. Cookies and cream ice cream to be exact.
She came home with apples, bananas, string cheese but no ice cream. “That’s the only thing I wanted,” he said in his best Don’t-Whine-You’re-Big-Now voice. “Oh shoot, Buddy. I’m sorry.” She replied knowing that she knew she forgot something. “After dinner tonight we’ll go to the store and get some. Promise.”
As they were leaving the restaurant she was deep in thought about the week ahead, the friends they just left, and life in general, when a little voice from the backseat said, “Don’t forget about the ice cream, Mom.” Of course she had forgotten but she promised and he was so good through dinner, she made a bee-line for the store.
Inside they looked and looked for Cookies and Cream only to come up with a poor second choice. While in the check out line, he looked up at his mother and asked a question he was sure he knew the answer to, “Can I get a candy bar?” Of course his mother would say “no.” It was a shot in the dark. A totally absurd request. He knew all this but something in his nine year old body had to ask. To his utter surprise, his mother, remembering a very similar time 30 years prior, looked down at her son with a mischievous look in her eye and said, “Sure! In fact, let’s get two.”
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As my father doesn’t remember the double ice cream day, I too shall forget that night in the grocery store. But I have a feeling Ben never will. The look on his face, his under-the-breath-mutter of “this is the best day ever!” and his physical skip to the car tells me he’ll not only never forget but he’ll make a memory like this for my grandchild some day.
