I had called him yesterday to see about doing something together, and it turned out it wasn’t the best time to do something, so I asked him, “Would you like to do something tomorrow evening? Think about it. We can go to a movie if you like- or go play putt putt. How does that sound?”

It’s silent for a moment. “Okay.”

I guess that’s a yes.

“Okay- I’ll call you tomorrow evening and see what you want to do.”

“Okay.”

“Okay then.” I and my young nephew don’t talk on the phone much. And that’s been alright. We’ll learn. “I’ll talk to you tomorrow.”

Silence.

“Talk to you later.”

The line goes quiet.

That’s cool.

Grant mostly knows me as his uncle who comes to family parties and to Lobo game viewings and to his choir concerts. I’m a nice enough uncle. I’m an uncle who gives him presents on special occasions. And we have gone out with his brother Brett to a movie or two before- my main past effort to try and be a part of these boy’s lives. But these boys who are growing up. It feels a little more urgent to me now, that I get to know them better before they are up and gone. They are not kids anymore. Soon, Brett will be out of high school. And Grant, he will be in high school.

I chuckle within, hang up the call on my side, and go back to chores.

—

At the end of my day at work today, after 5, I called my sister to see what she and the family were doing, and if Grant was still available. “Let me get you to Grant”, she tells me.

“Hi Grant- have you thought about what you’d like to do this evening together? Would you like to see a movie, or maybe go bowling, or putt putting?”

After a pause, he states flatly “Water balloons”.

Several weeks ago, he and his mom discovered Zuru’s “Bunch O Balloons” packs at Target. This product completely innovated their concept- and mine- of water balloon wars because, in each pack, you received three trees of balloons, and each tree is really made up of 30 water balloons connected to individual plastic stems that all branch from a trunk with a nozzle that you screw onto your hose. You turn on your water and each and every balloon on the tree fills until it pops off of its stem, self-sealed, ready for use. No more need to stretch each balloon mouth over a spigot, no more frustrations at tying a balloon after filling it. In one minute, and you have 30 balloons ready for chucking.

On the day they discovered the Zuru’s and bought some, I visited them and we had an impromptu skirmish and burned through a few trees in no time. And it was fun.

Water balloons, his phrase, was a request to do more of just that- at his house, where one or two people could be on a trampoline jumping and getting bombed, or jumping and catching the incoming balloons to throw them back at the ground target lobbing stuff at them.

“Sounds good. Water balloons it is. I’ll come up in an hour.”

It was only fair I stop at the store on my drive home from work and get as many balloons as a night out at the movies might cost. I went on home and put on some good water war clothes, and went on up to his house, where he was waiting for me on the trampoline, and when I entered the backyard, a pan of balloons were already filled and ready to go.

And go we- and the balloons- did.

I think Grant, Kristi, occasionally Brett, and even even for a short while Kristi’s husband Frank, and I probably burned through 300 balloons tonight over an hour and a half or so.

Trampoline jumping. Balloon chucking. Balloon catching. Back breakers. Cool air. And later, some burgers and dogs grilled by my sister under a grumbly monsoonish Southwest sky.

It made for a nice way to start the work week, a nice way to end a hot summer day, a great way to spend some time with Grant and his mom, and certainly a sure way to make some nice memories with them.