Photo by Bill Stokes
By Bill Stokes
Kickass, the doorstop dog, passes along the keeper’s judgement that as birthdays go, number 10 is about as good as they get, and he bases this on the occasion of great grandson Tyler’s 10th birthday party out at Becky and Beau’s Mazomanie home on a beautiful sunny Sunday afternoon.
It just doesn’t get any better than being ten years old: thoughts and ideas sloshing in your head like lemonade, puberty still lurking off in the bushes with absurd demands, confidence that there are still solutions and comfort to be had in taking tears to Mom, broken toys to Dad who can fix anything, and serious talks to the dog.
The keeper obviously must base his party opinions from the male point of view but gets some confirmation from Phyllis as to the importance of a girl’s 10th, maybe the start of “goodbye dolls, hello world.”
So, happy birthday, Taylor. You are in for one heckuva ride. Grab your butt and hang on ‘cause that’s the only way to deal with life. Take it from your great grandpa Pa-B who was actually once 10 years old—think pre-wheel era, but still hangs on just to see how you deal with the mess his old gang hands over to you.
Good luck!
Photo by Bill Stokes