Surprise visit

Last Saturday night, Ultimate tournaments hadn’t started yet, so Shaggy Hair Boy and Boy in Black had decided to hang out at home with their little brother. Boy in Black has been having the kind of angst any senior in college has when he looks at the future. He needs to figure out what he wants to do: get a PhD in Physics? Get a PhD in Math? Which one? Skip grad school and get a job? Boy in Black is passionate about Ultimate — right now he’s playing every night of the week — but he hasn’t figured out yet how to make a living at that.

Last year, when Boy in Black was injured, we spent many Saturday evenings by the fire talking about his groin. Now we sit around and talk about grad school — whether or not he wants to devote the next five years of his life to getting another degree. You’d think the topic would be an improvement, but you’d be wrong.

In the midst of this discussion, we heard knocking at the door. Not random knocking, but a rhythmic beat that kept getting faster and faster. I opened the door, and in walked Quick — our drumming, piano-playing, chess-playing extra.

He’d come home from the college for the weekend to spend time with his grandmother, and he’d decided to surprise us. He’d been texting Shaggy Hair Boy from his cell phone, but never mentioned he was in town.

The boys gathered around the table with a deck of cards and poker chips, happily exchanging stories about their first weeks of school. Quick joined the Ultimate team at University of Camera City, of course, and he’ll see my sons at some of the tournaments this fall. When my husband and I went to bed, the four boys were still at the table, eating random food and telling funny stories.