JANUARY 14, 2021 – (Cont.) New time and scene: last Sunday.
Byron and his wife, Mylène, have been visiting from New York, staying with us for a few wonderful weeks, since both are able to work remotely—and wow, but do they work hard! They took Sunday off and borrowed my car to meet their close friends, Kumar (who’d been a passenger aboard the Mustang on that fateful evening 15 and a half years ago) and Emma, for a x-c ski outing. It was Mylène’s first time on x-c skis. Byron grew up on x-c and downhill skis but hadn’t x-c skied in a number of years. He asked if he and Mylène could borrow my equipment. Of course, I assented—after all, he’s twice as old and 20 times more mature than he’d been at 16.
Two hours later, I received a text from Byron: “Hi, Dad.”
Uh? I thought. Just a random “Hi, Dad” in the midst of a x-c ski outing with friends? Somethin’s up, I thought. Sure enough–the immediately following text: “Can we meet you at REI?” I girded myself for what inevitably followed: “I accidentally broke one of your [$250] ski poles.”
I quickly thumbed a reply: “Not happy.” But then I collected my thoughts—and laughed. In the first place, the poles are 15 years old and don’t owe me a thing; moreover, the grip straps (which I’d replaced 10 years ago), are in sorry shape. But more important, I could have fun reviving the lesson of the Mustang mishap. In a flurry, my thumbs hammered out another sentence: “But do you know what this teaches us? . . . Not to get too attached to our material possessions!” I then hit “send.”
This exchange was good for lots of laughs upon Byron and Mylène’s return. The entire incident had an additional positive effect. It prompted me to get off my duff and purchase all new equipment—skis, bindings, and boots, as well as poles—which I’ve “needed” for all too long. What I’ve been using and what Byron borrowed had long before become ragged. Because I no longer compete in the Birkebeiner Race, and I’ve been putting off new equipment pretty much forever. Time to get attached to the idea of new material possessions!
But then came the best part. On Monday, Mylène asked me to ferry her to nearby Como Park so she could join my wife for a stroll through the conservatory. My wife was already there with a reservation and had been informed of another opening. En route, I noticed the gas gauge registered full. The last time I’d driven, it was at the quarter mark.
“Hey, the gas tank is full!” I said. “Did Byron fill it yesterday?”
“Yes,” said Mylène.
“Before or after he broke my ski pole?”
“After,” said Mylène. She quickly added, “But not because he broke your ski pole. He would have filled it anyway. It was the right thing to do.”
Byron and Mylène both married well.
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© 2021 by Eric Nilsson
