My Instead: I took my grandson Isaac to Ballpark Village for his belated 16th birthday.
My “bonus” grandson
Isaac and I were finally able to carve away some time to commemorate his 16th
birthday…it was June 6th. To celebrate, I had the crazy notion of
riding the mechanical bull at PBR St. Louis in Ballpark
Village. We made the long trek from his house in South
Millstadt to downtown St. Louis. I didn’t tell him my ulterior motive about crossing
the Mississippi. We finally made it to Ballpark Village and as we were climbing
the stairs to enter the world of rodeo at the PBR bar, I revealed my secret
plan to ride the mechanical bull…and my intention for him to ride it too. Isaac
was not thrilled about my scheme, saying that he was not comfortable about
being a spectacle in front of a crowd. Enter self-doubt. I wasn’t too sure that
I wanted that either…the “old fool” taken for a ride.
Isaac and I walked up to
the PBR bar and were “greeted” by two bouncers that would have been too much
protection for the American President. They asked if they could help us and I
stated proudly that we were there to ride the mechanical bull. No can do. Isaac
was obviously not 21, I obviously was…very disappointed, that is. I think Isaac
was relieved. The big boys asked if we had come a long way and I said “kind of”.
It wouldn’t have mattered if we had come all the way from China. We were banned
from the bull.
As we sauntered away
from the “stone wall”, I apologized to Isaac for the run-around and for setting
him up to do something he was simply not ready for. He graciously said that he
still enjoyed the experience of going to Ballpark Village. Trying to make a
comeback from this fiasco, I suggested FOOD! We found the Drunken Fish
restaurant that hails sushi as its main feature, so off we went to enjoy this culinary
delight. Isaac was quite the connoisseur of the raw fish cuisine…which I am
not. But this old dog was not too proud to learn all she could from this young
pup.
Isaac is a good kid, growing
up into a fine young man. He’ll do better than most, I can tell already. My
hope is that he figures out that seriousness is overrated and that trying
something different INSTEAD of the “same ole, same ole” might add a little happiness
along the way.
But I’m not going to
preach, Isaac…I’ll just lead by example!
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