shoulders. He was about to pull his bag out of the trunk, when the front door of the house opened. “Jase,” his mother called, walking towards him with arms stretched open wide. Jacqueline Spencer was an attractive woman, even at sixty-five. She was nearly as tall as he was, and he thought with a wry twist to his mouth that she would probably still be able to take him down. Shaking his head, he smiled and wrapped her up in his arms, hugging her tightly.
“Hi, Ma.” Grabbing the bag, he turned to walk with her. “You’re looking good. Where’s Da?”
“He’s inside. I’m about to put food on the table, eh? Come in and eat. I’ve made brown toast with the eggs; it’s breakfast for dinner. Your Dad wanted white, but I’m making enough concessions with the frying, aren’t I? You’re looking good, fit and healthy . Healthy is good. We watched the games, saw you got a lotta ice time during playoffs, didn’t ya ? Congratulations, Jase! My boy’s a cup winner. Oh, it’s good to see you, son.” She never slowed her chatter, just wrapped one arm around his waist and pulled him alongside her towards the house.
Entering his parents’ home was like stepping into a time warp back to high school, the décor unaltered and the layout still the same; even the furniture placement hadn’t changed. He craned his neck to look into a hallway to verify and saw that yes, in fact, the same pictures from high school of him and his older brothers were still hanging on the wall. He saw there was a single empty rectangle and sighed, shaking his head.
“Son,” his father greeted him, standing at the head of the dining room table and gesturing him over. Ignoring the hand that Jase offered, Kenneth Spencer pulled his son in for a hug , thumping him heartily on the back as he released him. “Good to see you, Jase. Go ahead, pull up a chair and help yourself, son. You know how we do it here,” he said, sitting back down and handing Jase a plate. “Looks like you made good time from Calgary.”
“Good time, yeah. Was a shame, though. Traffic was a bit congested in Olds.”
His parents both laughed at the old family joke, because while Olds was the largest town between Red Deer and Calgary, it was small enough it was unlikely to ever have a traffic jam.
Conversation continued back and forth during and after dinner, talking about his mother’s charity work and his dad’s staffing issues at the firm where he was a partner. Jase told them about the playoff series, reliving some of the critical moments with them. After dinner, one of his brothers showed, bringing his two oldest boys for a quick visit. Their favorite Unka Jase wrestled and played with the kids until they were exhausted and irritable, handing the boys back over to their dad with a wicked grin and a shrug.
Bedtime came and he was standing in the doorway of his childhood room, studying the furnishings with a sigh. This was one place he would have enjoyed seeing a change, but time had stopped in this room, too. Oh, well , he thought, I slept my last two years under this roof with my big, cold feet sticking off the end of the bed. It won’t hurt me to do it a couple more nights .
The next morning, he dressed for a run and stepped outside, taking a deep breath and noting , not for the first time, that the air smelled so different here from Chicago. After stretching, he set off slowly, gradually building his speed as he crossed and re-crossed the river for which the city was named, settling into a moderately fast pace for the last half of his run.
***
Breathing hard, Jase paced back and forth in front of the coffee shop for a few minutes, trying to cool down a little before he went inside. It had been a good, hard run through the city he loved, but now he needed some caffeine before heading back to his parents’ house.
Yesterday, he texted Anita when he got into town. He hadn’t wanted to call and pull her away from anything important, but hoped to provide simple
“Hi, Ma.” Grabbing the bag, he turned to walk with her. “You’re looking good. Where’s Da?”
“He’s inside. I’m about to put food on the table, eh? Come in and eat. I’ve made brown toast with the eggs; it’s breakfast for dinner. Your Dad wanted white, but I’m making enough concessions with the frying, aren’t I? You’re looking good, fit and healthy . Healthy is good. We watched the games, saw you got a lotta ice time during playoffs, didn’t ya ? Congratulations, Jase! My boy’s a cup winner. Oh, it’s good to see you, son.” She never slowed her chatter, just wrapped one arm around his waist and pulled him alongside her towards the house.
Entering his parents’ home was like stepping into a time warp back to high school, the décor unaltered and the layout still the same; even the furniture placement hadn’t changed. He craned his neck to look into a hallway to verify and saw that yes, in fact, the same pictures from high school of him and his older brothers were still hanging on the wall. He saw there was a single empty rectangle and sighed, shaking his head.
“Son,” his father greeted him, standing at the head of the dining room table and gesturing him over. Ignoring the hand that Jase offered, Kenneth Spencer pulled his son in for a hug , thumping him heartily on the back as he released him. “Good to see you, Jase. Go ahead, pull up a chair and help yourself, son. You know how we do it here,” he said, sitting back down and handing Jase a plate. “Looks like you made good time from Calgary.”
“Good time, yeah. Was a shame, though. Traffic was a bit congested in Olds.”
His parents both laughed at the old family joke, because while Olds was the largest town between Red Deer and Calgary, it was small enough it was unlikely to ever have a traffic jam.
Conversation continued back and forth during and after dinner, talking about his mother’s charity work and his dad’s staffing issues at the firm where he was a partner. Jase told them about the playoff series, reliving some of the critical moments with them. After dinner, one of his brothers showed, bringing his two oldest boys for a quick visit. Their favorite Unka Jase wrestled and played with the kids until they were exhausted and irritable, handing the boys back over to their dad with a wicked grin and a shrug.
Bedtime came and he was standing in the doorway of his childhood room, studying the furnishings with a sigh. This was one place he would have enjoyed seeing a change, but time had stopped in this room, too. Oh, well , he thought, I slept my last two years under this roof with my big, cold feet sticking off the end of the bed. It won’t hurt me to do it a couple more nights .
The next morning, he dressed for a run and stepped outside, taking a deep breath and noting , not for the first time, that the air smelled so different here from Chicago. After stretching, he set off slowly, gradually building his speed as he crossed and re-crossed the river for which the city was named, settling into a moderately fast pace for the last half of his run.
***
Breathing hard, Jase paced back and forth in front of the coffee shop for a few minutes, trying to cool down a little before he went inside. It had been a good, hard run through the city he loved, but now he needed some caffeine before heading back to his parents’ house.
Yesterday, he texted Anita when he got into town. He hadn’t wanted to call and pull her away from anything important, but hoped to provide simple
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