happy 4th

We’ve been invited to a barbecue in New Jersey.  But because Alexander travels on a bus every weekday for his job as a camp counselor, he wants to hang out in the city.  And I want to spend the day with him.  So I turn down my friend’s invitation, imagining all the things I’ll do instead with my son.

I search online for ideas.  Every suggestion I make is met with the same response: “I don’t want to do that.”  Finally Alexander and I agree to take a walk, then sit in the park and read.  We make it two blocks before turning back.  It is too hot and muggy to be outdoors. Too bad we’re not on a beach somewhere.  But then, Alexander wouldn’t enjoy that either. I begin, “Why don’t we…” and Alexander cuts me off. “We are not a we,” he says.  "We are not a couple we, but we are still a we," I respond. The conversation is absurd.

We come back to the apartment and watch an entertaining PPV movie, The Call.  We order in sushi.  And we watch an old Law and Order SVU.  It’s a simple way to celebrate a big, 237^th birthday. Just not quite the way I had imagined.