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Everett: Dude. I thought we were swing-jumping at 10 MY TIME, not Kansas City time. We’re still eating breakfast.
It didn’t take long for Kennon to respond.
Kennon: I’m on my way to my park as we speak.
Kennon: We’ve been alive 30 years today, Bro.
Kennon: 30 years and this is the first birthday we haven’t been together to jump swings.
Kennon: You’re not going to jeopardize that tradition because of a time zone miscommunication, are you? Where’s the love?
Kennon: Marcus. I’m counting on you to get him there. Don’t let me down.
Marcus grinned. His birthday wasn’t for five months from exactly today, but he had been part of this tradition with Everett and Kennon since the year they turned ten. “You heard the man. We’ve got to go.” He called out to Dex. “Can we get some boxes and the check?”
Everett stood up so he could see over the back of the booth and held two thumbs up toward the kitchen. “Amazing birthday breakfast as always, Cole!”
“Go,” Hannah said to Everett. “Ride with Marcus. I’ll get the bill paid, get the kids buckled in, then come join you.”
“Are you sure?” Everett said, hesitating.
Hannah glanced at her watch. “You’re down to seven minutes. Go! I’ve got this.”
Marcus raced with Everett out to Marcus’s car which was parked in front of Back Porch Grill. Since the restaurant was at the start of Main, the park was only about a block and a half away. They probably could’ve run there in the same amount of time, but he didn’t want to leave his car taking up a restaurant parking space.
He drove the short distance and pulled into a parking spot at the end of the lot closest to the playground toys, and the two of them practically leaped out of the car and raced through the snow to the swings. The day was bright and sunshiny, making it feel warm enough to melt a couple of inches of snow. It was a good thing because neither of them had thought to grab their coats.
“Four minutes,” Everett said as the two of them started stretching out their calves. “Are you ready?”
Marcus nodded as he stretched his arms, too. “I’ve been training for this every day for the past year.”
Everett froze right in the middle of stretching his quad. “For real?”
Marcus laughed loudly. “No. Not once, actually. But I do intend to beat you both— I have youth on my side, old man.”
Everett tried to give him a playful punch in the arm, but Marcus danced out of the way.
“That’s it. In five months when you turn the big three-oh, I’m going to sign your email address up for as many newsletters as I can from companies that sell hearing aids, denture creams, walking canes, adult diapers, and AARP memberships.”
Both their phones buzzed just then, and they both answered the video chat from Kennon. Marcus looked toward the parking lot to see if he could see Hannah and their kids just as their car came up the hill to the park. Joselyn was at her parents’ house getting ready for the big birthday bash, and he wondered for a moment if it would be weird to ask her to come. Probably so— it wasn’t like they were dating. But in all the times he’d met with Everett and Kennon at this park on March 10th, this was the first time that it felt wrong not to have her there.
“Hey.” Kennon’s voice came through the phones, and Marcus moved next to Everett. “Okay, so I found a park in Bonner Springs that is pretty close to Snowdrift Springs Park, so it’ll be almost like we are at the same park.”
Marcus could see part of the park behind Kennon. “Wow— nice job! That looks about as close as you can get to the park here. You’ve even got some snow.”
Everett glanced toward the parking lot. “Hannah is just getting Jason out of his car seat and Drew is racing toward us, so we’re about ready to start. Are you ready to see how skilled we are at doing this while holding phones?”
Kennon flexed his arm, showing off his muscles. “I was born ready.”
Like they had every year for the past twenty years, they took their places five feet behind the same swing they each stood behind every time and stomped down any snow that wasn’t already flat. The swing that Kennon usually stood behind felt so empty. The video call made it feel like he was present, but it was strange to not have him joining them in person.
“Go!” Kennon shouted over the phone.
Marcus took two steps toward his swing, then leaped over the seat and between the two chains holding up the sides of the seat and said “One” at the same time Everett and Kennon did. Once he landed, he turned and did the same from the other direction and said, “Two.” After teasing Everett about his age, Marcus wondered how well they were all going to be able to do this when they were turning seventy and had to leap over the swings seventy times.
When they leaped over the tenth time, he and Everett both said “Ten,” but he didn’t hear Kennon’s voice, so he glanced down at his phone, panting from the leaps they had done so far. Everett stopped too. “Bro. You’re cheating on the birthday tradition? That’s low.”
“Not cheating,” Kennon said. “I decided those swings weren’t enough like the ones at home. I’m walking over to some different ones now.”
