Keep up with old friends...

When I was a little boy, my family moved from Nashville, Tennessee (which was a wonderful place to grow up in the 1950s) to Macon, Georgia. My Daddy, your Mommy's Granddaddy, worked for the Boy Scouts of America and had been promoted to Scout Executive of the Central Georgia Council. We rented this house on Avon Road when we first moved to Macon. Within a year my family bought a house out in the country (11 miles north of Macon) on Colaparchee Road. Living in the country was really fun. We played in the woods, camped out back behind the house (we had 11 acres), played softball in our huge front yard, hunted with our shotguns and generally had a great time just being little boys.
One of my best friends was Tommy Ward whose Daddy drove the school bus. Tommy, his little brother Roger, their Granddaddy (Mrs Ward's Daddy) and Mr & Mrs Ward lived in a little brick house up the road and around the corner from us. Mr Ward had physically built their house like I did for your Mommy in Oklahoma. My brothers and I were the first to be picked up by Mr Ward in the morning and the last to be dropped off in the afternoon. It was a long day with us getting home after 4:20 in the afternoon.
Roger was Tommy's younger brother. As far as us older boys were concerned Roger was a real pest. Even though we were mean to Roger and even hit him on the arm to the point of bruising him, he really loved playing with us older boys. One day we were playing football out in the cow pasture next to Tommy's house and we needed another "man" to even out the sides. We reluctantly let Roger play but forbid him from doing anything besides center the football ("Roger, just center the ball and stand there"). We knew he would mess up if we allowed him to do more. Several plays into the game Roger came back into the huddle and told Tommy that no one was guarding him and that Tommy should throw him the ball and he would score. Tommy didn't want to do it because he knew Roger would drop the pass and maybe even be responsible for an interception. Roger persisted and Tommy finally gave in. He told Roger to center the ball and run out into the flats over towards their house and he would throw the pass to him. Tommy reminded Roger of what would happen to him if he dropped the ball. Roger knew the consequences and the bruised arm he would receive if he dropped the pass. Nevertheless wanting to win his big brother's approval, he centered the ball and sprinted out towards their house. Tommy hit Roger in the numbers with a perfectly thrown spiral pass and Roger dropped the ball. Without breaking stride Roger kept running at full speed, jumped the fence and ran home. We didn't see him again the rest of the afternoon. I've always thought that would be a great scene in a movie about boys and their little brothers.
Today was Tommy's 63rd birthday so I called to wish him a Happy Birthday. He's one of those special friends that I have kept up with for over 50 years. We had a nice chat and agreed that we'd have to get together soon. It's great keeping up with old friends... I hope you'll make it a point to keep up with your friends, Ethan... and even remember their birthday. Oh, I forgot to mention... Roger is a Brigadier General in the Georgia National Guard.
I love you, Ethan... I understand that you have a baby brother or sister on the way. How exciting! I know you'll be a big help to your Mommy when he/she arrives,
Granddaddy
PS. Give me a call sometime: 931-598-9160