handing me the black velvet box.
I reach for the small box and open it slowly. My eyes tear up again when I see a black and silver ballpoint pen.
“I think you will find you can cross another one off your list,” he adds.
I take a closer look at my list for the first time in over twenty years and read carefully, looking for the item I remember so vividly writing down.
Get a tattoo
Work at a haunted house
Create a secret family recipe
Fun with Girlfriends
Fall asleep under the stars
Learn to Ski
Try Golfing
Complete 25 acts of kindness
Make a difference in someone life
Take a picture in the same spot in each season
Have a whipped cream fight
Eat dinner and go to a movie by myself
Learn how to shoot a gun
Learn to dance
Slow dance in the rain
Skydive
Take a cooking class
Fall in love
Marry my best friend
Go on a no limit-shopping spree
Ride in a helicopter
Have a silly day
Write something in wet cement
Have a full moon party
Go skinny-dipping
Do a polar plunge
Go somewhere tropical
Win a contest
Volunteer my time
Watch the sun go down and the stars come out
Learn to knit
Go camping
Have my palm read
Create a board game
Go apple picking
Plant a garden
Take a canoe Trip
Take a walk with my mom
Go fishing with my dad
Eat a six-course meal
As I get to the end of my list, I find the item I am looking for and carefully draw a line through it.
Eat a six-course meal
Casey and Abby eventually say their good-nights and head home. Bryna heads up to her old room to head to bed. I was not nearly ready for bed, I was still sipping on some coffee, thinking about the evening. After tonight, I need to feel a little bit more of Jack with me so I brewed a small pot, and grabbed Jack’s favorite red coffee cup from the shelf. I pour a second glass for Flynn, and we move our conversation to the front porch.
“You don’t have to stay. I’m sure you are tired,” I say, taking a seat.
“No, I’m fine… I think I am still coming off the adrenaline of the day.”
“Flynn, you did an amazing job. Jack would be truly proud of everything you were able to pull off today.”
“I can’t take any of the credit, it was all his idea. He would go on and on about every little detail he could think of and wrote it all down in his ‘anniversary journal’ he kept at the office,” he replies, smirking.
I could tell he was reliving some of the conversations he had shared with Jack, as his smirk turned into a large smile and then a small chuckle.
“I can’t tell you how much this means to me, but I can’t ask you to foot the bill for Jack’s master plan. Tell me the amount and I will write you a check,” I offer.
“Ha, let me think about that. Ah, no. I don’t think so. And even if it was my money I used, I wouldn’t have let you pay me back.” Flynn chuckles.
“I don’t understand, whose money did you use?”
“Jack’s. He had been saving for this for years, doing odd jobs for extra cash in the beginning and then having payroll process two checks for him so you would never know he was skimming.”
“He did?” I ask.
“Yep, made me promise never to tell you no matter how broke you were at times.”
“I can’t believe he did that. Wait when did he work these side jobs?”
“Well, do you remember all those times he and I would hang out at my house for football, or helping me with some lame project, or the time he and I went on our fishing trip without his tackle box?”
“Yes…”
“He was off doing jobs. You almost caught us once in a lie, and Jack was convinced you were going to think he was cheating on you.”
“Oh my God, yes, I knew you were lying,” I blurt, laughing, knowing exactly the memory he was referring to.
It was about ten years ago, Jack and Flynn had made plans to go canoeing and camping for a boys’ weekend. It was supposed to be a cheap weekend away. After Jack got home, he was limited on his excitement to tell me about the weekend
I reach for the small box and open it slowly. My eyes tear up again when I see a black and silver ballpoint pen.
“I think you will find you can cross another one off your list,” he adds.
I take a closer look at my list for the first time in over twenty years and read carefully, looking for the item I remember so vividly writing down.
Get a tattoo
Work at a haunted house
Create a secret family recipe
Fun with Girlfriends
Fall asleep under the stars
Learn to Ski
Try Golfing
Complete 25 acts of kindness
Make a difference in someone life
Take a picture in the same spot in each season
Have a whipped cream fight
Eat dinner and go to a movie by myself
Learn how to shoot a gun
Learn to dance
Slow dance in the rain
Skydive
Take a cooking class
Fall in love
Marry my best friend
Go on a no limit-shopping spree
Ride in a helicopter
Have a silly day
Write something in wet cement
Have a full moon party
Go skinny-dipping
Do a polar plunge
Go somewhere tropical
Win a contest
Volunteer my time
Watch the sun go down and the stars come out
Learn to knit
Go camping
Have my palm read
Create a board game
Go apple picking
Plant a garden
Take a canoe Trip
Take a walk with my mom
Go fishing with my dad
Eat a six-course meal
As I get to the end of my list, I find the item I am looking for and carefully draw a line through it.
Eat a six-course meal
Casey and Abby eventually say their good-nights and head home. Bryna heads up to her old room to head to bed. I was not nearly ready for bed, I was still sipping on some coffee, thinking about the evening. After tonight, I need to feel a little bit more of Jack with me so I brewed a small pot, and grabbed Jack’s favorite red coffee cup from the shelf. I pour a second glass for Flynn, and we move our conversation to the front porch.
“You don’t have to stay. I’m sure you are tired,” I say, taking a seat.
“No, I’m fine… I think I am still coming off the adrenaline of the day.”
“Flynn, you did an amazing job. Jack would be truly proud of everything you were able to pull off today.”
“I can’t take any of the credit, it was all his idea. He would go on and on about every little detail he could think of and wrote it all down in his ‘anniversary journal’ he kept at the office,” he replies, smirking.
I could tell he was reliving some of the conversations he had shared with Jack, as his smirk turned into a large smile and then a small chuckle.
“I can’t tell you how much this means to me, but I can’t ask you to foot the bill for Jack’s master plan. Tell me the amount and I will write you a check,” I offer.
“Ha, let me think about that. Ah, no. I don’t think so. And even if it was my money I used, I wouldn’t have let you pay me back.” Flynn chuckles.
“I don’t understand, whose money did you use?”
“Jack’s. He had been saving for this for years, doing odd jobs for extra cash in the beginning and then having payroll process two checks for him so you would never know he was skimming.”
“He did?” I ask.
“Yep, made me promise never to tell you no matter how broke you were at times.”
“I can’t believe he did that. Wait when did he work these side jobs?”
“Well, do you remember all those times he and I would hang out at my house for football, or helping me with some lame project, or the time he and I went on our fishing trip without his tackle box?”
“Yes…”
“He was off doing jobs. You almost caught us once in a lie, and Jack was convinced you were going to think he was cheating on you.”
“Oh my God, yes, I knew you were lying,” I blurt, laughing, knowing exactly the memory he was referring to.
It was about ten years ago, Jack and Flynn had made plans to go canoeing and camping for a boys’ weekend. It was supposed to be a cheap weekend away. After Jack got home, he was limited on his excitement to tell me about the weekend
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