‹ Prequel: American Girl: Can't I Just Be Chloe?
Amped Up: Why Is My Name Jason?
Family Dinner
My brother and sister didn’t get back up about five-thirty that night. It bugged me to know that they were attempting to avoid this. We ended up going out to dinner a little while later, a dinner in which my father, fortunately, was being forced to come in contact with me. It was mainly Aunt Lizz who forced him to go, but everyone else supported it: Uncle Teddy, Uncle Nick, Aunt Selena, Uncle Joe, Aunt Kyra, Uncle Frankie, and his wife, my aunt Chloe. Even all my cousins agreed that my father was doing the wrong thing by ignoring me and that he should come. Only Garrett and Maddie were on Dad’s side. Fortunately for my sake, they were outvoted and forced to come along on this occasion.
While out, all I did was shot looks at my father. He deserved them. Mom definitely wouldn’t have wanted that. Now, when I’d look over at Aunt Lizz, I could see that she was rather distracted by something; I wondered what it was. She normally wasn’t like this. Usually, Aunt Lizz would be chatting it up with me or Uncle Joe about something. Not today. Today my aunt seemed to be talking to herself. About what I have no idea. I was going to have to ask her. All four of my uncles were busy talking just as Aunt Chloe, Selena, and Kyra were doing. My siblings were talking amongst themselves just as my cousins were…well, all except Greg and Quinn. They were on either side of me attempting to talk with me. I wasn’t really in a talkative mood, but did anyway. They were the cousins I was closest to and, if I didn’t talk to them, it could end up alienating them.
“Jason, are you really still upset over the fact that Aunt Amanda isn’t here?” Greg asked me, upon seeing how upset I was. “She died before I was even born and you shouldn’t beat yourself up over all of this. Death happens; Aunt Amanda’s time just came seventeen years ago.”
I smiled faintly at that. Despite the fact that Greg was only ten, he had wisdom well beyond his years. Aunt Lizz often told me that she suspected Greg to be kind of like Uncle Nick. Uncle Nick was like that, giving advice on topics well beyond his years. It was kind of funny to see that Greg was being compared to Uncle Nick when he had no relation to him. What I wondered was what my aunt was talking about; what advice was Uncle Nick giving to Aunt Lizz over the years and why. An even better question than that was why Aunt Lizz was never as affected as my father was when Mom died. For Aunt Lizz, it was her sister, a blood relative. To my father, it was only his wife. Why in the world had my father been more affected by her death than her own sister? Had Uncle Nick helped her deal with it? Whatever it was, Greg was attempting to do the same with me by giving me the advice to let it go. My ten year-old cousin wanted me to let all of this go and move on with my life. Now that’s pathetic; even a cousin younger than me was saying this.
“Greg’s right,” Quinn told me.
I looked over at my other cousin. “Huh?”
“You can’t just mope over Aunt Amanda’s death. Doing that will cause your life to pass you by. By the time you realize that, so much of your life will have gone by that there will be no point in living. Come on, Jason. Don’t think about this anymore,” Quinn pleaded.
“Aunt Lizz is trying to help me with that,” I told them. “She thinks I should pick up music like my father did. Then I can be as emotional as I want to be.” My thoughts quickly turned to the mandolin sitting in my bedroom. I’ll never forget her with that around. If need be, I’ll learn how to play it just to remember my mother. I couldn’t let Quinn or Greg know what I was doing though; they would just object to my doing such a thing.
“Yeah, that could work,” Quinn said.
I shrugged and went back to my food. There had to be some way for me to think about my mother without anyone other than my aunt realizing it. Only Aunt Lizz understood how angry I was at my father and how much I truly did miss my mother. That made her the only person who could know what I was really doing. Playing music might help though. Music could help convey the emotion I was feeling and make them understand what was going on with me. I mean, I’m a seventeen year-old guy that somewhat caused my mother to die when he was just a newborn. How would that really make me feel? Upset. Angry. Frustrated. Take your pick. Things just weren’t right since Mom died. I hated not having my mother around. Somehow, I had this bond with her, one that caused me to never forget her. Plus, there was that presence I felt; it wouldn’t let me forget Mom either.
Once we got back from dinner, I immediately ran upstairs. I’m not sure why. It was seven o’clock and there were still presents. Of course! Presents. The song. Upon getting up to my room, I went over to the CD player and played the one Jonas Brothers song that I had never heard. Lovebug. After the chattering the background from the backup band and my relatives (including someone yelling that Uncle Joe wasn’t a girl; ha!) the song started off slow with Uncle Nick and Uncle Joe taking turns singing. I could hear my dad singing background in the chorus. It was also during the chorus of the song in which I heard my father playing the mandolin. Aunt Lizz was right. He does play the mandolin in that song. After the chorus, the song went from acoustic to rock which was how the song finished.
Wow, I thought. That song was amazing. Why won’t you play this, Dad? It’s good. So good that I definitely do want to learn how to play it. I could see why it was Mom’s favorite. Plus, if I remember correctly from when Aunt Lizz showed me, Maddie, and Garrett a tape of our parents' wedding, that was their first dance. I’ve got to learn that song. With that, I looked over at the clock. 7:04 PM. In just one minute, I would be exactly seventeen years-old. Yeah, sure that was a good thing, but I hated not being able to see my mother.
I looked over at the clock just as it changed. 7:05 PM. I’m seventeen. Now, it was at that exact moment that I felt a hand getting placed on my shoulder. Looking around, I found that no one was there. So, I went back to what I was doing. A moment later, I heard a female voice speak. “Jason, I think you and I need to speak,” it said. With that, I found that my mother had suddenly appeared before me, looking just as she did when she died.
While out, all I did was shot looks at my father. He deserved them. Mom definitely wouldn’t have wanted that. Now, when I’d look over at Aunt Lizz, I could see that she was rather distracted by something; I wondered what it was. She normally wasn’t like this. Usually, Aunt Lizz would be chatting it up with me or Uncle Joe about something. Not today. Today my aunt seemed to be talking to herself. About what I have no idea. I was going to have to ask her. All four of my uncles were busy talking just as Aunt Chloe, Selena, and Kyra were doing. My siblings were talking amongst themselves just as my cousins were…well, all except Greg and Quinn. They were on either side of me attempting to talk with me. I wasn’t really in a talkative mood, but did anyway. They were the cousins I was closest to and, if I didn’t talk to them, it could end up alienating them.
“Jason, are you really still upset over the fact that Aunt Amanda isn’t here?” Greg asked me, upon seeing how upset I was. “She died before I was even born and you shouldn’t beat yourself up over all of this. Death happens; Aunt Amanda’s time just came seventeen years ago.”
I smiled faintly at that. Despite the fact that Greg was only ten, he had wisdom well beyond his years. Aunt Lizz often told me that she suspected Greg to be kind of like Uncle Nick. Uncle Nick was like that, giving advice on topics well beyond his years. It was kind of funny to see that Greg was being compared to Uncle Nick when he had no relation to him. What I wondered was what my aunt was talking about; what advice was Uncle Nick giving to Aunt Lizz over the years and why. An even better question than that was why Aunt Lizz was never as affected as my father was when Mom died. For Aunt Lizz, it was her sister, a blood relative. To my father, it was only his wife. Why in the world had my father been more affected by her death than her own sister? Had Uncle Nick helped her deal with it? Whatever it was, Greg was attempting to do the same with me by giving me the advice to let it go. My ten year-old cousin wanted me to let all of this go and move on with my life. Now that’s pathetic; even a cousin younger than me was saying this.
“Greg’s right,” Quinn told me.
I looked over at my other cousin. “Huh?”
“You can’t just mope over Aunt Amanda’s death. Doing that will cause your life to pass you by. By the time you realize that, so much of your life will have gone by that there will be no point in living. Come on, Jason. Don’t think about this anymore,” Quinn pleaded.
“Aunt Lizz is trying to help me with that,” I told them. “She thinks I should pick up music like my father did. Then I can be as emotional as I want to be.” My thoughts quickly turned to the mandolin sitting in my bedroom. I’ll never forget her with that around. If need be, I’ll learn how to play it just to remember my mother. I couldn’t let Quinn or Greg know what I was doing though; they would just object to my doing such a thing.
“Yeah, that could work,” Quinn said.
I shrugged and went back to my food. There had to be some way for me to think about my mother without anyone other than my aunt realizing it. Only Aunt Lizz understood how angry I was at my father and how much I truly did miss my mother. That made her the only person who could know what I was really doing. Playing music might help though. Music could help convey the emotion I was feeling and make them understand what was going on with me. I mean, I’m a seventeen year-old guy that somewhat caused my mother to die when he was just a newborn. How would that really make me feel? Upset. Angry. Frustrated. Take your pick. Things just weren’t right since Mom died. I hated not having my mother around. Somehow, I had this bond with her, one that caused me to never forget her. Plus, there was that presence I felt; it wouldn’t let me forget Mom either.
Once we got back from dinner, I immediately ran upstairs. I’m not sure why. It was seven o’clock and there were still presents. Of course! Presents. The song. Upon getting up to my room, I went over to the CD player and played the one Jonas Brothers song that I had never heard. Lovebug. After the chattering the background from the backup band and my relatives (including someone yelling that Uncle Joe wasn’t a girl; ha!) the song started off slow with Uncle Nick and Uncle Joe taking turns singing. I could hear my dad singing background in the chorus. It was also during the chorus of the song in which I heard my father playing the mandolin. Aunt Lizz was right. He does play the mandolin in that song. After the chorus, the song went from acoustic to rock which was how the song finished.
Wow, I thought. That song was amazing. Why won’t you play this, Dad? It’s good. So good that I definitely do want to learn how to play it. I could see why it was Mom’s favorite. Plus, if I remember correctly from when Aunt Lizz showed me, Maddie, and Garrett a tape of our parents' wedding, that was their first dance. I’ve got to learn that song. With that, I looked over at the clock. 7:04 PM. In just one minute, I would be exactly seventeen years-old. Yeah, sure that was a good thing, but I hated not being able to see my mother.
I looked over at the clock just as it changed. 7:05 PM. I’m seventeen. Now, it was at that exact moment that I felt a hand getting placed on my shoulder. Looking around, I found that no one was there. So, I went back to what I was doing. A moment later, I heard a female voice speak. “Jason, I think you and I need to speak,” it said. With that, I found that my mother had suddenly appeared before me, looking just as she did when she died.
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