Our son Mikos is a great planner.

The Plan

It started several months ago. Mikos wanted to host a small reunion with a few of his high school buddies, but he also wanted to include their families. This get-together was based around their friend Aaron’s schedule. Aaron is the manager of the New York Yankees. With Aaron’s busy schedule, Mikos knew he was taking a chance, but he went ahead and sent out the Evites.

The Friends

Having only one friend from high school that I still keep in contact with, I marvel that Mikos has maintained so many of his friends. Jay was the only local. He, along with his family, live in Orange; Mark  lives in Fort Collins, CO, and Carter lives in Northern California. These three all confirmed that they would attend the gathering.

The Dinner

With Mike making the best chile rellenos and my famous refried beans, it was a no-brainer that Mikos asked us to cook dinner for his guests. It was a small, intimate group: Mikos, Jenny, Jay and his wife Michelle, Carter, Mark, and Mike and me. While the men were reminiscing about their boyhood stories, the subject about the nude beach came up.

The Nude Beach

They were 15 years old when we took a trip up to Santa Barbara. We still have a little cottage a stone’s throw away from Ledbetter Beach. But these boys wanted to be dropped off at Henry’s Beach. I had to load them up in my car to drive them there. I knew that there was a nudist beach, but it was a few miles’ walk and I never expected these guys to venture off that far.

It was well into the afternoon, no cellphones, just a communication to meet me at the front entrance to Henry’s Beach at 3 o’clock. Sonja and I waited and waited; then, as if they had been on a long jog, slowly they started to appear. Mark was the last one to surface, and I was a little suspicious. I will never forget the image of his face, it was flushed red. When the boys got in the car I asked, “You didn’t go to the nude beach, did you?” “Oh, heck no!” they laughed when they answered. I knew something was up, but I let it go. Only after this dinner did I finally get the details.

Of course they walked deep into the private beaches of Hope Ranch because they wanted to experience the nude beach, but they were wearing swimming trunks. To Mikos’ recollection, “We saw an old man playing Hacky Sack and I wanted to turn back, but Mark wanted to continue.” Mark was right and their dreams were about to come true. As they lay in the sand, two beautiful, young college girls came down the steps that led to the beach. The boys held their excitement because the girls were fully dressed. I’m sure these boys waited with bated breath as they watched the girls disrobe.  As if it were a free show, the beautiful young girls stripped to their bare bottoms, their birthday suits!

The Disrobing

As the story continued my eyes were wide with amazement.  Turns out we only knew part of the story. Mark had a great idea: “I think we should take off our trunks.” At first Mikos and Carter were nervously apprehensive but, as groupthink would have it, they made a consensus. “If we do this, we can’t look at each other’s privates,” Mikos added. “Oh my gosh! did you guys take off  your trunks?” I asked. They did but, for some strange reason, only rolled their trunks to their knees.

The BBQ

Aaron finally confirmed that he would make it to the BBQ. It was going to be a big group. With our family alone, we are ten: Aaron, his parents, Bob and Sue, along with his brother Matt and his family. Jay, Michelle, and their son George, Carole, Chris, Jay’s mom. Carter, Rachael, and Jane, Carter’s mom. We had the best time sharing stories about the boys.

Sue shared the sweetest story about Aaron and Sonja. Sonja was a freshman, and Aaron was a senior in high school. Aaron handed Sonja a quarter with a folded piece of paper containing his phone number. He told her that he was just a phone call away if she ever needed anything. This is who Aaron was and still is: a gentle, humble man.

The Video

I’m part of the fans that will go the extra mile to promote my Blog, mycatholicroots.com. Preparing ahead of time how I was going to wrangle Aaron into doing this, I had to hit while the iron was hot. Poor Aaron had barely walked in when I asked if he could do the video.  Of course, as gracious as can be, Aaron made a Reluctant Chef video. Plus I think he liked the bean dip too! Aaron took photos with everyone who was there. He is so sweet and patient.

Aaron had to leave early because he is the manager of the New York Yankees! We all stayed behind and enjoyed the wonderful company. But the day was just beginning.

The Game

Later that evening we had great seats to the game. Maddie, her friend Thompson, Mike and I had a wonderful time at the game. We headed up to the Diamond Club for our farewell to Mark and Carter.

I remember the mounds of nachos I made for those boys. We had a tortilla factory and manufactured our own chips, so the barrel of nachos never went dry. Our home was their safe haven and will always remain that for them.

My Prayer

Dear Lord, I pray for Aaron as he manages the toughest baseball team in the world. May You continue to give him godly wisdom in every decision he makes as a manager. Lord, protect our families. May we grow in the knowledge of Who You are in our everyday lives. Amen.