He wasn’t the type who’d say, This is my old lady.
He introduced my mom by her nickname only,
never mentioned, I can’t remember, saying she was his wife.
I guess everyone would just assume they were married.
I was some kind of proof of a bond between them, wasn’t I?
He said once, when we were driving to the fish auction,
We sure got old fast. I think that surprised your mother, he said smiling.
But not me. I’ve felt it happening for too long by now.
Getting old is no picnic, lemme tell you, no damn stroll in the park.
I pointed out that he’d just driven by the pier entrance,
and he cursed something under his breath.
We did a U-turn on Nimitz Highway, and just like that there was a cop behind us.
The officer told him the U-turn there was illegal.
My dad said, Sorry, I’ve only done this once.
I said, My dad missed the turn into the fish auction pier.
He was trying to turn around and go back.
The officer bent down and looked through the window at me, then glanced at my dad.
He said nothing, stood, gave my dad back his documents, and let us go with a warning.
I couldn’t figure out why he looked at me and then my dad that way.
Maybe he had a father too, who was showing the signs of age.
Lanning Lee 