Home Boys

One year, six of us fake canoed through a major storm, tumbling out onto the sofa. Another year, Jeff and I tied a string and maybe a stuffed creature to a ceiling fan, as it spun, it became a duck and lunge game. Others joined; we dove and slid across the wood floor avoiding heads and feet. That same night, I watched my sister get fake beat up (it was funny, not tragic) as part of a gangster argument. Gianni and I bolted across frozen grass and dove behind a grave stone, I think playing tag. Dancing lasted for hours and became theatrical complex soap operas. We have the classic songs of “Chicken Wing, Chicken Wing” and “Toothpaste, I want your Toothpaste” Nope, not kids – most of this happened in our early 20s at the annual Christmas parties.

This reminiscing started because my sister found a photo of the boys from home taken probably over 10 years ago. There were a few sets of brothers (not all pictured) and many of us had known each other since grade school. My sisters and I had developed individual friendships, but around the end of college (for me) we combined. This was the first group of friends that my sisters, each 3 years apart, fit perfectly with. I ended up in DC and after finishing college, Michelle moved to San Francisco and Laura to Seattle. Some of the guys still lived in Michigan, but others were in Colorado, San Francisco, Chicago, Seattle. But when holidays came….

I don’t know exactly how many years it lasted, I remember the various homes - Billy’s, Marty’s, Rich’s, Carl's restaurant – and there were parties outside of the holidays, but Christmas was surely the most concentrated form. Toward the end, Tom's parents moved, our family started Northern California Christmas, then for some came the holiday spouse time split, and most recently, baby's first Christmas.

Some of the guys still live in Michigan and I sometimes see crazy photos that prove their combined energy is still happily slightly insane. Then we get the occasional wedding or bachelor party (boys only) and the wigs come out. I still see them on an individual basis or if I’m lucky, pairs, but nothing en masse.

I miss the purity of that laughter and ridiculousness. It could be that since it was annual, the craziness was manageable and on a weekly basis it would have left us permablobs. On the 26th of December, my stomach and cheeks were as achy as my feet. I also miss the sense of oneness with my sisters. We were a pod and these were our friends. It’s the same feeling I have on family vacations. A protective bubble that allows you to be completely absurd and free.

I have rewritten this several times - and I can't seem to insert enough snark, I sound sentimental. And I guess I am. And that’s okay, since I'm fairly sure most of them don't read this. Chicken Wing.