I Like The Way It Sounds

It was the middle of June and I’d officially been home for a week. In those seven days I spent all of my time inside my Aunt Jenny and Uncle John’s house. The weather had been particularly brutal and everyone had decided that various movie marathons were the best way to survive. And by “everyone” I mostly mean my brothers and I. Uncle John still had to go to work all week and Aunt Jenny couldn’t bring herself to sit still for an entire movie, much less a marathon of them. There was quite a bit of traffic from some of the guys, though.
One day was spent watching old home movies with John and Ross and Shane. It was odd seeing Ross and myself as babies together. Obviously, since were so close in age, it made sense - but because John and I had always buddied up when I was younger, I sometimes forgot about the fact that Ross is only 6 months younger than me. It was even weirder seeing my Mother on film and watching her interact with me. Distant memories of cooking in our tiny kitchen and playing with stuffed animals and Barbie dolls in my room flooded back to me. As the tapes continued, though, Mom’s presence disappeared and Garrett eventually showed up. However, the tiny kitchen and my old bedroom were still frequent settings as they were in the house that now belonged to the Nickelsens. The only major differences were the light saber toys that littered the bedroom floor instead of the plush dolls, and Mrs. N replaced my own mother in the kitchen.
Uncle John had filmed all sorts of events in our lives. Baseball plays made by each of the boys at all different skill levels were prevalent, and many of the shots filmed at John’s games included the familiar faces of Jared and Eric. Tim was in a few of them too. Moving up ceremonies in elementary school were mixed in with birthday celebrations and quite a few Christmas mornings in my apartment in New York. Band rehearsals that I’d borrowed the camera to capture were on there too, and the infamous first gig. The one where John couldn’t even look at the crowd? I’d recorded that, too. When that part of the tape came up, John had to leave the room from embarrassment. Shane thought it was hysterical. And I couldn’t stop smiling.

Another day was spent watching the entire Star Wars saga while holed up in Garrett’s bedroom. So, I guess I did leave John and Jenny’s – if only to cross the driveway and invite myself into the house next door. That particular marathon was just the two of us huddled up in a blanket fort we’d made on the floor next to his bed. It felt like we were six again, and Mrs. N provided all of the snacks we’d loved way back when; mountains of popcorn, sour patch kids and her special double chocolate cookies. Gare even let me cry when Aanikin turned to the dark side without judging me. He did, however, tease me for loving the romantic plot line instead of focusing on the battles between good and evil. But in return, I teased him for trying to do it with a terrible Yoda impression. I think I won that “battle.”

Things were still different between us, I knew he felt it too, but it wasn’t enough to make us uncomfortable around each other. If anything, we were more comfortable; I saw nothing wrong with reaching for his hand during the scarier parts of the films, and I was never overly concerned when he wouldn’t let go at the end of the scene. I didn’t understand what my feelings were for him and I wasn’t ready to try and find out. I was finally home and for the first time I’d be a permanent resident of the same state as my best friend. And I was excited to experience that without having to worry about “feelings” or relationship drama.