Sunday morning I woke up, mowed the lawn and called the kids to see what their plans were for the day.  See, they had slept over their Mammie and Buppa’s on Saturday night.  The wife was at a bachelorette party that same night. So, I woke up Sunday to an empty house.  Just hung-over me and the dog.  I had a party on Saturday for a very good friend, with lots of my very good friends.  Lots of drinks, hugs, and conversations (some repeated a few times).  I was incredibly hung-over on Sunday morning, but it was one that made me smile.  It was a really fun night.  Golf, a dip in the pool, steak on the grill and a thousand drinks.  A good recipe for a great day.  One that I would pay for with a great hang-over this Sunday morning.

As I said, I mowed the lawn as the first thing I did.  I knew it needed it, and I thought sweating out the toxins from the previous night would be good for me.  I was very, very wrong.  I thought black coffee and a shower might help, NOPE.   Headache remained.  I thought back and remembered that I was drinking vodka and hadn’t had a carb in like 3 weeks due to this diet I’m on.  This was going to be a “I’m never drinking again” hang-over.  But, I kept smiling and laughing about the night before, so I was okay with this.

The kids decided that with the heat that staying at Mammie and Buppa’s and swimming all day would be a great Sunday.  I guess there could be worse Sundays.  The wife called and said she was on her way home so I asked if she wanted to be lazy with me and swim at my parents house.  Her day was made.  I’m sure she had a nice hangover and her hearing that I didn’t have a million chores I wanted the family to do on a Sunday was music to her ears.

We got to my parents house and I went inside to grab some water, but I found the couch instead.  I figured I would close my eyes for a second to help with the hangover.  Seconds turned to hours I guess.  I wiped the drool from my mouth and made my way outside.  I saw my niece, sister, my kids, wife, her parents and my parents all in the pool.  And just as I finished changing to my bathing suit my brother, his wife and my newest most precious little niece arrived to swim.

It ended up being a perfect afternoon and night.  My hangover was gone after a few quick dunks in the pool and a few water gun fights with my god daughter.  I even got to hold my newest niece and we shared a few laughs together.  She’s been scared of me since the day I met her so this was a HUGE day for us.   Also, being able to have my parents and my wife’s parents just sitting together is something I don’t take for granted.  I know lots of families where that isn’t a thing.  But, for me, as I always say, I am so damn lucky.

So, on a very hung-over Sunday for me I got to experience family.  I got to have a few races in the pool against my kids, a smile from my niece that was only for me, and I got to watch my god daughter dance her way around the pool deck.  I got to see my Mom relax with a beer in her hand and my Dad do as he always does and cook for a million of us.  I got to see lots and lots of happy, smiling people.  Nobody with a care in the world for those few hours.

Perfect days don’t happen that often, but this was one of them.  I don’t know what the cost of the pool was that my parents bought all those years ago, but I know that the money was well spent when there are days like that.

Sometimes I feel like I woke up and was almost 40, but I have no idea how I got here.  I always feel like a 12 year old kid.  Handstand contests against the kids, or a game of “who can swear the loudest” against my 3 year old god daughter keeps me young.  But, then I look at the kids floating in the pool, trying to “not get their hair wet” because they have plans later and I’m reminded I’m not 12 years old, that I’m an adult for these kids.  What a scary thought.

These days are going too fast for me.  A few weeks ago I asked my wife if she could go back and relive 24 hours which day would she pick.  She couldn’t think of the day, she mentioned maybe when she was 9 and her brother came home from the hospital the first time.   I had a few days to choose.  A concert in the summer, or a party in College or maybe a day back in high school, but I would trade all those days for that random hung-over Sunday with my tribe.  What a perfect day with my favorite people….