The black and silver browline eyeglasses were well-worn, with bended temples, loose hinges and discolored nose pads. When held up to the light, however, the lens were perfectly clean and free of scratches.
The man put them on, gently pressing the bridge against the top of his nose with his index finger.
Across the way he saw a young child playing with a red, white and blue football, making an indention in the ground with the back of his heel before grinding one end of the ball into the makeshift kicking tee.
He took a few steps back, ran toward the ball and made contact – only to see the football skitter off to the left without ever getting airborne.
“That’s OK, kid,” said the man. “It takes a while. Back in my day footballs were rounder and fatter, but I still had trouble kicking the dang thing. I think what might help is to get you a real kicking tee, like the ones the players on TV use. I bet Howard’s Sporting Goods has some good ones for sale.”
A quick glance to the left revealed an awkward middle schooler desperately trying to juggle a soccer ball. The best he could do was keep the ball in the air for three bounces – one with his knee. However, he kept trying, and even managed to steal a quick glance at the onlooker and smile.
“You’re doing great, buddy,” the man yelled. “It’ll come … you just have to keep at it. And as long as you keep a positive attitude, then you’re halfway there. Now me, I didn’t know anything about soccer when I was your age. Couldn’t tell you the first thing about it. You’ve already done more than I ever could.”
To the right an older teen sat cross-legged on the grass, staring off into space with red eyes. He’d obviously been crying, but certainly didn’t want anyone to know it.
The man eased to the ground, let out a groan and sat next to him.
“I don’t think I ever told you about Marietta Turpin,” he said. “It was my junior year of high school and I’d had an eye on her for two years. The most I’d ever done was say hello to her … I was so shy I could just never work up the courage to ask her out. Well, finally I started to feel a little bit better about myself. I’d just gotten brand new glasses and brand new shoes, and even landed a spot on the baseball team starting in right field. So, one day right after the last bell rang at school, I decided I’d go for it and ask her if maybe she wanted to go to a show or get a milkshake or something. You know what? She told me she wished I’d asked her last year because that was before she started going steady with Johnny Tanner. Holy smokes, was I embarrassed. She was nice about it, but I wanted to crawl into a hole. Thing is, you get your heart broken. And I wish I could tell you this was the only time, but if I did, I’d be lying. Someday you’ll find the right somebody, though. And guess what? It might even be one of those situations where the right somebody finds you.”
The man stood up, took off the glasses and pulled them against his chest.
“Are those your dad’s glasses?”
“Yeah,” said the man, looking at his wife. “I was just going through his desk drawer and found them. Thought I’d put ‘em on … don’t really know why. But I don’t want them to get taken in the estate sale.”
“Oh, honey. He really loved you, and I know you loved him.”
The man smiled.
“I’m glad I tried these old things on. Kind of a nice reminder that he was always looking out for me.”
