THE LAST HURRAH…CHAPTER ONE
March 24, 2028…My Last High School Spring Break…
It's Friday morning and the last time I will enjoy a high school spring break because next year in March at this time of year my spring break, I will be a freshman in college. I sit up in my bed and look around my bedroom at my closest sleeping friends that have crashed here last night. From my best friend Zola Grey Sheppard that is sharing my queen sized bed with me on one side to my adorable teenage baby sister Lucia Michelle snoring like our mami on the other side of me. On the floor are Zola's brother Derek Bailey, DB for short, their sister Alexa Caroline and my baby brother Daniel Alexander also snoring like our mami. With some of Zola and mine close high school friends also in the mix and snoring like freight trains, I begin to smell the warm and toasty hint of food.
But it is my baby brother Daniel and Zola's equally baby brother DB that are the first to smell our mamas cooking that travels up two flights of stairs and down and around our hallway. Like a flash both boys shoot out of my room and down the stairs to be the first ones at the breakfast table without being told. This exhilaration from the two teenage boys I have grown up with all my life at the tender age of almost eighteen years now only to see that they have awaken the rest of the sleeping group. With the angelic voice of my mama calling all of us down for breakfast from two floors down my mine and Zola's sisters jump up and they too fly downstairs all the while knowing that they are well far behind their older brothers. Zola and I crawl out of the warm bed to greet our friends and I tell everyone "Well we better head down to breakfast…mama will begin to worry and our brothers will consume everything in sight if we're not there".
When Zola and I and our friends finally make it down to the breakfast table we watch my mamas as they maneuver themselves very carefully around a dozen kids between the ages of twelve to eighteen without missing a beat. With mami's IPOD resting in its docking station and blaring out some very eclectic music this Friday morning I just stand and watch these two adult women as they dance and sing their way around making sure that the twelve of us have plenty to eat. When breakfast is over and the kitchen is cleaned, my high school friends tell Zola and I that they will see us later at the mall as they all tell my mamas and our sibling's goodbye and thank them all for a delicious breakfast.
Then with both our mamas along with DB, Alexa, Daniel and Lucy, short for Lucia, Zola and me all talking about what we are going to do this weekend…we are going camping. The eight of us look in our mama's direction as we can see her head spinning with the thoughts of going camping because…she hates camping…yep she does…she hates everything about it. But the good news is as our mami explains to our mama "Arizona, we all know that you hate camping…but this just isn't any kind of camping…this is camping at Derek and Meredith's winter home. So even though we all won't be roughing it per say…our oldest daughter wants to spend her last weekend of her spring break with her parents and her closest friends…even if it is going camping…so what do you say honey…do you want to go camping with your family or not"?
My wife of almost eighteen years raises her hands above her head as she shouts out loud "Yea…Yea…fun…fun…fun…we're going camping". Then my wife and I are swarmed into a gigantic family bear hug with our children and the Sheppard kids too. Just then the excitement quiets down as we all hear the front door bell begin to ring and in comes Meredith and Derek as their three kids vacate our bear hug to hug their parents. After a couple cups of coffee and one or two hot cinnamon rolls being shared by the four adults while the visiting kids grab their belongings and the five member Sheppard family begins to depart. With a promise in the morning air of meeting the five of them for lunch before we all make the three hour drive into Canada and to their winter home for the weekend I watch Arizona's face begin to succumb to the reality that we really are going camping this weekend. I ask our three kids to go and pack for our impending camping trip.
I take my wife Arizona by the hand as I lead her to our own private breakfast nook that I had built when we purchased this house fourteen years ago. I ask her to have a seat while I pour the two of us another cup of coffee. Then I sit across from my wife as I begin the dreaded conversation that we both have been avoiding lately. I say to my beautiful wife "Arizona, I know you really don't like camping but please baby do this for Sofia. She is only asking that we spend the last few months we have with her doing what she wants to do. Because come August she will be leaving us to go off to college at Stanford". My wife is very fidgety right now as she stands and begins to scream at me "Don't you think I know all of that Calliope. But what about Lucy and her allergies…going camping may only enhance her allergy symptoms…and what about Daniel…his inquisitive nature…he may just run off at any moment…do you remember what happened at Disneyland all those years ago…when him and DB just took off and we could not find them for hours…do you remember that Calliope"?
I keep a close eye on my wife as her infamous Robbins rant is in full swing and I make my way to her to swallow her up in my arms. When I feel that she has calmed down a little I begin to say "I am going to miss the hell out of her too baby when she leaves for California. But look on the bright side, her Aunt Christina and Uncle Owen will be only minutes away from her dorm room. She may have to live on campus for the first year but I will bet you anything when her sophomore year comes around our little mija will take the offer that her Uncle Owen asked of her and live with them and her cousins Madison and Colin for the rest of her time in Stanford California". When I realize that my wife has begun to cry I hold her closer to my body as I hear her say "Why couldn't she just stay here in Seattle with all of us and go to UDub, Callie" Why couldn't she just stay our little girl for a little while longer"?
Neither my wife nor I hear the door to our little breakfast nook open but we do hear the distinctive voice of our mija when she says "Mama, you alright? Why are you so sad"? I turn to face our daughter but before I can say a word to her my wife wipes the tears from her eyes and says "I'm fine Sofia, I'm just a little sad that you will be leaving soon". Our oldest daughter walks right up to my wife and I and moves me out of the way as she takes Arizona in her arms and says "But no matter where I go in my life you will be right here" as our mija lays the palm of her hand on her heart and then finishes by saying "because you're my mama". Kissing our daughter's lips with her own and squeezing her upper body tight into her melting body Arizona just finds another reason to cry today thanks to Sofia.
With Daniel and mama going over the camping checklist outside at the back of our Jeep Cherokee, just like our grandfather Daniel would if he were her today, Lucy, mami and I are packing all the food in coolers inside the house. Then Lucy marks off all the food we need with the flick of her wrist on her checklist. Grandpa Daniel is all around us…every day…in every way. We may all have lost him at a young time in our lives…but his legacy…his sense of humor…and his love…will live in each of our hearts…forever.
The five Robbins Torres family members and the five members of the Grey Sheppard clan with everyone all decked out in the outdoor fishing attire as we enter The Whistle Stop Café just outside Seattle for some lunch before heading into Canada. I am wearing my father's old fishing vest and hat when Uncle Derek sits down next to me and admires the fishing lures attached to both items. My dad and Uncle Derek were the best of friends back in the day as I have heard all their war stories together before and now my Uncle Derek just sits with me and as we reminisce about my dad. After eating another delicious meal at this great restaurant the ten of us head out to our cabin in the deep…deep woods.
Mama and Uncle Derek take me, DB, Daniel and Alexa with them down to the river to do some fly fishing before dark. With mami and Aunt Meredith along with Lucy and Zola all prepare the house for our camping weekend. After about an hour of fishing Uncle Derek asks DB and Daniel to help him with starting a fire in the indoor fireplaces. After the three of them and Alexa, following her papa anywhere, leave our presence mama and I begin to catch some enormous and plentiful fish. Mama walks a little closer to me as I hear her say while we both are still fishing "Grandma Barbara would be so proud of us today baby girl". When we finish fishing for the evening mama and I take turns taking pictures of us and our bountiful catch as I send them to my onto our Grandma Barbara through my cell phone. Within seconds my phone rings and mama and I hear our beloved family grandmother as she screams back at us telling mama and me "you both make me so proud…I haven't seen so many fish being caught since I first took your grandfather fishing on our first date".
With very limited cell phone service here in the deep woods mama and me say goodbyes to grandma while walking towards the house. Once inside Uncle Derek is laughing so hard at something that Alexa has said but when he sees all of the fish that mama and I bring in the house his laughter dies down immediately. With the look of competition suddenly overshadowing Derek Christopher Sheppard's somewhat wrinkled face as he walks by mama and me death staring down at all the fish we caught mama and I hear him say to the two of us "it is so on ladies…it is so on". I begin to laugh a little as does my mama when we take our fish out to the garage to clean them before we wrap them securely and freeze them. Mami comes out to see why our Uncle Derek is rambling to Aunt Meredith about all the fish we caught. Mami just smiles at the two of us at our late evening catch as she kisses each of us and says "Well done my girls…well done".
All day Saturday and three quarters of all day Sunday Uncle Derek along with mama and I fished with the exception of about four hours that Aunt Meredith insisted that we all go for a hike and take a break from fishing. Uncle Derek finally conceded his fishing defeat late Sunday afternoon just before we all drove back to Seattle. I found it quite amusing and enjoyable that he would want to spend his two day and a half day of vacation time with me in spite of his rivalry with my father just because he says I have my father's spirit and ruthless drive for competition. But I point out to my very special uncle as I say to him on our walk back to the cabin "I know that you want to believe that I am my father's daughter after this weekend but you must understand that I also have the fight for competition from both my mamas and for me it's a win…win situation…because I am not only a Sloan child and proud of it I am also a Robbins and a Torres child and I am as equally proud of these two women as I am of my father's legacy".
With Daniel crashed out in the rear seat of our Jeep Cherokee and mama and Lucy sitting in the middle seat as mama is helping Lucy with her homework, I sit in the passenger seat with our mami driving back to Seattle. I sit and listen to the conversations between the other three females of our family as I hear the faint snoring of my baby brother in the background. But I also watch the world go by out the passenger side window as I think to myself that I will miss the gorgeous and beautiful landscapes that litter the highway and byways of the great State of Washington. I know that Stanford is only a couple hours away by plane but there is nothing like the scenery of the outskirts of Seattle from the passenger side window with your family snoring and talking throughout the ride. Yes I will miss the simple things in our lives so I guess I had better make very good use of the next five months and cherish the little things in my family's life even more. But once we arrive home, we all have to get ready for my eighteenth birthday…Yea!
