The Slice: Making memories takes patience

It’s early, so nobody asks many questions.

The sandwiches are loaded into the old truck along with the fishing gear.

The pickup whines as it backs out on to the street. Then the steady, weathered hand on the shifter slowly, patiently moves through the gears.

The two kids eye their grandfather. He nods, almost imperceptibly.

Sandwiches are handed out. And there in the early morning weekend quiet, the three of them munch and gaze out at the passing morning,

The children are too young to realize it. But they will remember this. Long after he’s gone.

They will recall how he smelled. They will see the glint in his eyes.

They’ll remember the backs of his hands on the steering wheel.

But that’s for some distant tomorrow. In the here and now, the questions remain locked in the moment.

“Do you think they will be biting, Grandpa?”

“I’m sure of it. Who wants another sandwich before we get there?”

Seasons: Is a tomato wasted when hurled at your spouse when he/she is not looking?

Why do wasps want to get inside?

What happened in July 1969?

When you were a kid, did you believe summer would last forever?

Did you used to get a bang out of an ice cream truck’s appearance on your street?

Fireworks accidents: Avoidable or collateral damage?

What was the most dangerous practice encouraged by high school football coaches?

Did it cross your mind that the some of the other kids in Little League might have been nervous, too?

Do you remember your first summer dance?

Do you remember the first summer after you got your driver’s license?

Do you remember when older boys first showed an interest in girls your age?

What was the best summer or your life (so far)?

Would your current associates recognize a picture of you at 14?

Did you want to get out of whatever town you were in the summer when you were 17?

Did moving often accelerate your ability to make friends?

Did you have a summer when you sprouted, and what was that like?

Today’s Slice question: Did realizing your father was fallible allow you to see him as a real man?