If you had a time machine and could go back and relive moments from your past, what events would you choose? Not to change them, just to experience them again. I’m sure a lot of people would choose their child being born or graduating high school or college. I suspect some might want to live their wedding day again. I never had kids or a wedding day, but there were still memorable moments.
When my little sister, Denise, had her first child, she was in labor for 30 hours. I was there every moment waiting to meet my nephew. My sister had opted for natural childbirth and initially refused medication. She finally relented and they must have given her something strong. A nurse, who had attended to Denise the day before, couldn’t believe she still hadn’t delivered. She poked her head in and said, “Is it soup yet?” Denise was upset. “It’s not soup; it’s a boy.” After the nurse laughed and left, Denise looked at me. “I just said something really stupid, didn’t I?”
I would relive lots of moments with my niece and nephews, like the time I decided to scare both of Denise’s boys, Seth and Reed, at Halloween when they were about five. I made myself up like a stuffed dummy with a hockey mask and slouched over in a chair on the porch. They made sure to let me know it was not effective. Seth banged on the door and said quite sarcastically, “Very scary, Uncle Neal.” I jumped up and screamed. When I removed my mask, they were frozen in fear, holding each other just like Shaggy and Scooby.
I came home from Montgomery once to take my oldest nephew, Van, fishing. I hadn’t slept in 24 hours and wanted a nap. No time. Van already had the truck packed with enough food, drink, and supplies to survive a zombie apocalypse. We went to South Sauty, but I fell asleep. I woke to Van yelling, “Grab the dipnet.” I was out of it. I wasn’t even sure what that meant. I found the long dipnet, walked over to the tall bank, and saw he had hooked a huge catfish. I dropped the dipnet onto the fish a couple of times. Van yelled, “Don’t hit it in the head; scoop it up.”
There are other moments in time that stand out. It would sure be fun to relive winning first place in a math tournament. I’d love to again feel the thrill of hitting a home run. But it was the times with my nephews and niece when they were young that I would revisit first. What about you?
Neal Wooten is a columnist in the Mountain Valley News and North Jackson Press newspapers. He can be reached at [email protected].
