Rant #2,477: Whatcha Gonna Do

My son had his birthday weekend, and I hope that it soothed him a little bit.

He has been through a lot during these past months, seemingly on permanent furlough from his work, not being able to participate in his social/sports activities, and seeing his grandfather being so sick.

He is a sensitive person, but he usually has a bit of a poker face when it comes to all of this.

So perhaps this weekend made him feel better about himself, even for the moment.

It all began on Saturday, when we finally got back to the bowling alley to roll a couple of games.

We went there just when the alley opened, and we got in and got our lane just about right away.

He bowled four games, and while the results were not spectacular, I kind of liken it to his own personal "spring training," where he gets into bowling shape to prepare for the real thing ...

And the "real thing" is happening, as this weekend, we found out that his bowling league is going to start up again in about a month, so not able will he be able to participate in a sport that he likes, but he will see people he has not seen in seven months or so, his peers who are basically in the same boat that he is in.

That evening, we watched the first of two major WWE wrestling events scheduled for this weekend, NXT Takeover, and while i fell asleep for a good hour in the middle of the show, my son loved it, so my falling asleep wasn't even part of the equation for him; if hew liked it, it was a success.

Sunday was the big day, for more reasons than he could have ever imagined.

Not only was it his actual birthday, but we had a surprise for him that was many weeks in the making.

He received his presents from my wife and I and from his grandparents--another one is in the mail and will be coming any day now--and we had promised him that he could pick his favorite restaurant, and that we would order in food for him.

And, of course, what is a birthday without a cake, and we got him something special, ice cream cupcakes, to celebrate the occasion.

What he did not know was that something else was going to happen that day to celebrate the day.

Several weeks ago, I contacted the Police Athletic League, the organization that oversees his bowling and basketball leagues and dozens of other programs for youngsters and special needs people, to ask them if they could help us organize a car parade to celebrate his birthday.

I told them of all the circumstances our son was under, and that he really needed some cheering up, and they thought it was a great idea and jumped right on it, putting out the necessary activities to make this thing a go.

And at about 1 p.m. yesterday, we herded him outside, didn't tell him anything, and led by a police car from the local precinct, a caravan of about 10 or 15 cars--including one driven by his sister--made their way to our house, sporting placards celebrating our son's birthday.

I think he was a little dumbfounded at first, but as the cars went by the house, he really got into it, waving on each car while staying socially distanced from them.

Afterwards, he was presented with a new bowling bag by a parent and one of his fellow bowlers, and I know that he felt really good after that, as he told us that the parade was "fun," while he kissed both my wife and I, thanking us for setting something like this up for him.

One problem: I started to record the parade with my phone, and I somehow must have grazed into the "stop" button, so while I thought I was recording all of this, I got all of seven seconds of the parade, so we have no video of it.

But my son has the memory of it that will last a lifetime, and that is what counts.

We later ordered in our food from a local eatery, and then it was time for the second major WWE event of the weekend, WWE Summerslam, which is normally one of their biggest events of the year, and even this year, it was a huge event, with no fans in the stands but all the usual hoopla.

I managed to watch the entire show, to the glee of my son.

Don't ask me how i did it, but I did it.

But that wasn't the end of the day, as we got another surprise--even a surprise to me--just as the WWE show began.

As I was out picking up our food and later doing some other things, I left my cell phone in my bedroom and didn't have it on me when i got a call from a parent who could not be part of the parade.

The parent said they had wanted to participate, but could not for one reason or another.

The parent said that he wanted to come over and deliver a gift to my son, and I said that was fine, but the parent said he would try to get over to our house, I told him where we were, and that was that.

Some time passed, and I figured that they simply could not make it ... until the beginning of the WWE show, when I thought I heard something happening outside, ran to the window, and saw that the parent had parked his car in the driveway.

My son and I went to the door, and met up with two boys--twins--that he knows and has been bowling with for years.

They spoke with my son for a few minutes, invited him to be on their team this coming season, and handed him a birthday card.

We thanked them for coming, said that we would see them in a few weeks when the league started up, and we went upstairs to continue to watch the WWE show.

I asked my son if there was anything in the card, and there was: a $50 gift card.

We were so pleased, and astonished, by this act of generosity. I texted the parent and told him and the boys "Thanks."

I was floored, I really was.

I honestly don't know if I was more impressed with the bit of chit chat the brothers had with my son or the gift, but being human, the mix of the two really was incredible.

We watched the rest of the WWE show, and when it was over, I pretty much passed out.

So the weekend went well--very well--for my son, and I hope that it proved that all is not lost, even in this horrible time that we live in.

There is always something good happening maybe not to you, but around you, and humanity does exist.

Sometimes you have to look for it, but it is there.

I want to thank the PAL for all they did to set this thing up, I want to thank all the participants, and I want to thank my son for being the very best son a mom and dad could ever have.

We saw our son smile, and I mean really smile, yesterday.

That was worth the world to us.