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“Mom—”
That was all I managed to get out. “I just want you to be happy.”
“I am.”
“Maybe now you are. But what about when you get old?” she asked.
“What?”
She took a sip of her orange juice and set the glass down before she clarified, “You might be able to do all of that surfing and snowboarding now, but the older you get, things are going to change. Your body won’t always be able to do what it’s doing at the moment.”
“As long as I continue to do it and don’t take an extended break from either sport, there’s no reason I won’t be able to,” I assured her.
“Do you think you’ll always do this?” she questioned me.
“Surf and snowboard?”
Shaking her head, my mom said, “No. I’m talking about the constant traveling. I just think it’s going to be hard for you to settle down if you’re always on the go. How could you possibly meet someone if you’re never in one place for too long?”
I looked at my dad, hoping he’d chime in, but he took my mother’s side. “Sorry, son. You know I’m all about you doing what makes you happy, but I’d be lying if I said I wouldn’t love to have some grandchildren one day.”
After swallowing a bite of my French toast and reaching for the syrup for my next piece, I replied, “I spend all spring, summer, and fall in Hawaii. I come back here for the winter to visit and to snowboard. It seems like I’m traveling all over, because when I’m here, I’m constantly going to wherever the next storm is. But when I’m in Hawaii, I pretty much stay in the same spot.”
That was another reason I’d purchased the camper. I already had a home in Hawaii. I didn’t exactly need one here, too. But since I did like visiting my parents over the winter and throughout the holiday season while also being an avid snowboarder, I’d wanted an option that would allow me to experience all that I wanted without needing to worry about maintenance and costs associated with a house in Colorado.
“Do they not have any girls where you are, or are you not interested in dating anyone?”
“They have girls there, and I have dated. But I haven’t found someone I’m interested in something long term with yet.”
Whether they liked that or believed me, it was the truth.
I’d had a few women I’d dated over the years. When I took the time to think about it, it was almost as though I wound up having a couple of summer flings. I had my fun; I enjoyed myself. But there hadn’t been anyone I’d made such a deep connection with that I wanted to bring home and introduce my parents to over the holiday break or for the winter.
It didn’t bother me.
If it was going to happen, it would happen.
For now, I’d be content to enjoy what I was doing for the next couple of months. And maybe when I made my journey back to Hawaii in the spring, I’d meet someone. If it didn’t happen then, I wasn’t going to be upset about it.
“Well, now that you’ve scaled back on the competing, maybe you’ll have more time to find someone,” my dad declared, clearly wanting to get himself back in my mother’s good graces.
“Maybe,” I returned, deciding it was best to just agree with them at this point.
The conversation didn’t necessarily bother me. I knew they meant well and wanted the very best for me. But the truth was that I was happy with my life as it was.
That didn’t mean I didn’t want to find someone special.
Of course, I wanted that.
But I wasn’t going to stop living my life and doing the things that made me happy in order to seek that out. I wholeheartedly believed when the time was right, it would happen.
My parents and I finished breakfast, and I helped to clean up afterward. Once that was done, I grabbed the gear and my clothes I’d thrown in the wash last night and carried everything out to the camper.
I’d gotten all of that situated and made my way back into the house, where my mom was waiting with two grocery bags full of meals she’d made up. After putting the food in the camper, I came back inside one last time.
“Alright, I’m heading out,” I declared.
My mom walked over, gave me a hug, and said, “Be safe, Griffin. Call if you need anything.”
