My neighbors Parker and Patty are always telling me how proud they are to be a part of Port O Connor, Texas. They say it is a great community and so friendly. Their kids and grands visited for Easter and it was special. They had some good weather for fishing and some foggy weather for celebrating on the front beach Sunday morning. With air mattresses everywhere, dishes in the sink and clean up needed, the grands and Patty came home Sunday afternoon and got busy. First they turned the television up blaringly loud to their favorite music and then they washed, mopped, packed and folded, dusted and cleaned until they left the house sparkling. Patty was very appreciative.
The grands and their parents gathered their Easter candy haul, coolers full of fish and all their belongings, loaded the cars, hugged and kissed and with the music still blaring Parker and Patty watched them drive away. With a deep sigh, they turned and went back into the house to rest up after the visit. Parker wanted to turn down the music and change the TV channel, but he could not find the remote anywhere. The newer flat screen had no obvious buttons to control so he was at a loss. For several minutes he and Patty screamed and hollered back and forth as they tried to locate the remote, discussed how to mute the noise, pondered and even argued about who could have ‘misplaced’ the remote. They grew more and more frustrated. Finally, after what seemed like hours in a torture chamber of loud noises they stepped out the door and called the kids. They explained the missing remote and asked who knew where it might be. There were lots of helpful and not so helpful suggestions. One son told Patty she lost lots of things and look in the usual places. The grands suggested the fridge, the freezer, Grandy Parker’s overall pockets, under the dog bed, in the laundry and lots of other ridiculously possible locations for the missing remote. Parker and Patty were quite distressed by this point. They scurried from place to suggested place looking for the necessary remote, they shined flashlights in corners and under tables, checked easy chairs and made up beds, but they did not find the remote. And they kept complaining about the noise. During the entire time the kids and grands on phone and sometimes on speaker, were laughing and cracking jokes and making fun of the loud music and mounting frustration over a remote. One grandson cracked that is was like an egg hunt for grownups. Parker and Patty were not too amused.
Finally, the youngest grand sweetly said,” Nani, just flip that red switch by the TV and it will turn off the power. That will stop the noise.” Patty did just that and breathed a sigh of relief at the silence. She and Parker hung up the phone and sat down with a glass of tea. They were heard to quote the silly song that says “our kids are grown and now it’s so, we’re glad to see the children come and glad to see them go…”, and truthfully they felt much like that. After a cool drink and some down time. Patty got up to let the dog in and just happened to think about the ledge under the built in bookshelf next to the chair in the cozy darker corner of the living area. Who knows why she thought to look there except she remembered the littlest grand playing there while they were cleaning up. Now Patty’s not blaming anyone, but there just out of sight under that ledge she found the remote and her sense of humor. As she flipped on the quiet broadcast of the evening news she thought about how precious family is. She also thought about how she used to walk over to the TV each and every time she changed the channel. Life keeps changing…you better keep up.
