About six Augusts ago our family started doing a “See Ya Later Summer” meal where we go out to eat and mourn the passing of yet another summer. We look back fondly as our Coppertone comrades jaunty steps gradually slow to a gasping shuffle. Summer moves amongst the wilted flowers and discarded popsicle sticks refusing to look back and acknowledge the slow steady advance of its old nemesis, Fall.

Our “See Ya Later Summer” meal used to be pizza at a picnic table by the kids favorite playground but the kids don’t have much use for playgrounds anymore so we upgraded to one of those “sit down” type restaurants this year…so it goes.

The agenda for the “See Ya Later Summer” meal doesn’t vary much from year-to-year. I ask what the fondest memory of the past summer was, what they enjoyed most…so forth and so on. They are teenagers so usually I have to settle for the usual teenage response to such parental prodding’s, “I don’t know”.

This year I made a more future focused addition to the agenda and asked them what they hoped to accomplish between this “See Ya Later Summer” meal and the next. This elicited the same thoughtful response of, “I don’t know.” Sierra eventually offered up that she hopes to successfully complete her freshman year of college (good idea) and Jackson said, sarcastically I hope, “get loaded and have a good time.” One for two isn’t bad.

The answers they give aren’t as important to me as getting them to simply think about the questions. At least it makes me feel better to “think” that I’ve made them reflect on the past and ponder the future.

Change is the natural order of things when you have children. They’re never content to just stay kids. They grow up…I grow old…beats the alternative I assume. Last week we did our yearly measurements of the kids and Jackson managed to grow up about a 1/8 inch taller than his father. We stood back to back and when my wife announced the results Jackson turned, chest bumped me, and exclaimed, “New alpha male Pops!”

I returned a chest bump of my own and applied a quick choke hold to demonstrate the fact that alpha male status has little to do with height…then I went to lift weights to prepare for the young pups next attack. Like Falls inevitable advance on Summer the boy’s gaining on me and seems pretty happy about the entire turn of events. A little too happy for my taste.

After I reviewed the stats my wife recorded regarding our height I came to the conclusion that he didn’t catch me we sort of met going in opposite directions. I claimed to be 5'10" when I went to college back in 1991 and scaled that back to a more realistic 5'9" after a particularly detestable woman working at the Department of Motor Vehicle snidely question my claim of 5'10".

I know better than to mess with DMV so I decided to forgo any mention of her facial hair and left an inch shorter than when I entered. But now it appears that somewhere along the way I’ve misplaced another inch as my wife listed me closer to 5'8" in the alpha male showdown with Junior. I know people shrink as they age but I had always assumed that applied to “other” people.

I’ll be in my hammock if you need me…if I’m still tall enough to get in it.