It'll Pat You on the Back...

I was at Aries’ track meet, watching Leo and Leoii and Virgo volunteer for the meet. I’d just finished talking to Leo on the other side of the fence to the track, and was watching him walk off when a Black lady caught my attention, saying something to me as I went by.

“That’s your husband - it IS you!” She smiled.

“Yes,” I confirmed with a grin, “That’s my husband.” I didn’t recognize the woman specifically, but she obviously knew us, and I figured I may have seen her before. My stint in retail made everyone’s face seem possibly familiar. My face probably looked like I was trying to remember her because she continued.

“You guys lived on the corner at 17th…” she continued to describe a friend’s house.

“No, we didn’t, but good friends of ours did so we were there a lot.” I smiled, thinking of how much like family those friends had seemed.

“But you guys skate, and have a couple of small ramps?” She knew why she knew us, and was giving me clues I should recognize. She smiled, maybe halfway between having fun trying to make me remember, and halfway frustrated that I didn’t.

“We do skate…” I tried connecting the dots.

“And a few years ago my nephew wanted a skating party for his birthday.” She smiled, knowing I’d get it now.

“OHHhh!”

I remember being impressed that weekend. We didn’t know the African-American family across from our friends, but the young boy there wanted a skateboard party, and no one there knew where to get skate ramps for the one event. Our friends across the street were skaters, but didn’t have anything to skate on to put in the street that was blocked-off for the party. They did know that our family had a couple of quarter-pipes that my husband had built that were easily transportable. So we and our three 12-and-under kids were invited to the party, and my middle boy, who was becoming a proficient skater, demonstrated and helped teach little tricks like ollies.

It was a huge, successful party, and the host insisted on paying us something for the use of our ramps, though we declined. It was great to see our kids skating with complete strangers who had similar interests and love for fun. What’s more, in a gang-laden neighborhood known for a higher percentage of African-heritage families, where rent is rising and trendy families are being targeted for the newly-built apartments and townhouses, my European/ Southern U.S. heritage family were blending happily with complete strangers from a stereotypically clashing background. My husband didn’t even blink when he was told what this boy wanted, and he made it happen. The arrangement obviously made an impression, because here, six years later, a lady from the party recognized us from our association with making this boy’s birthday wish come true.

I’m happy she stopped me and reminded me that there are good moments between strangers in this town. I like that the things we do for each other, just because we foster positive experiences, can leave a mark that lasts for years. The lesson that hit me again, which seems to be a recurring theme in my life, is “When given the opportunity, do what you can to make life a little better for someone.” What’s the opposite of “Bite you on the ass later?” Maybe: “It’ll pat you on the back later in life.”

#skating #ramp #pat #birthday