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"That's SO cool!" Alexis proclaimed as she watched the woman pull back on the bow and release the arrow.
"I know how to do that," I told her. Showing off? ABSOLUTELY. It's never a bad time to make yourself look cool in front of your kid.
As Alexis stared in wide-eyed in amazement that her mom knows a tiny little bit about archery, I smiled at the memories of how fun it is. I haven't touched a bow and arrow since junior high. It was one of those random gym class things we did when the school year was winding down, the weather was improving, and teachers were sick of dealing with us all.
I can't imagine that schools still allow junior high kids touch weapons during the regular course of school. I wondered if there was ever a time when all schools did.
It occurred to me that I could find out if archery in gym class was a crazy NoDak thing or not. I pulled up Facebook and asked. It's not just a NoDak thing.
And that's when I saw his face.
Facebook is a landmine for most everyone I know. I control my personal landmine by steering clear of my personal page. It's all "Burgh Baby" all the time for me--I don't even pass by my personal account for weeks on end. For some reason I had clicked a wrong link and wound up in personal land, though, and there he was staring at me from the "People You Might Know" box.
He was one of many reasons why I loved archery.
It was an individual sport best played with a touch of solitude. Solitude was good in junior high. Very good. When I was alone, I wasn't on the outside looking in. Being the smartest in the class and the poorest in the class was really a bad combination that led to weeks and months and years of cruelty from the other kids. I don't think about it much because ... OBVIOUSLY. Why go there? Just ignore those faces on Facebook and you can skip that part of life you spent crying every day as you stood outside looking in.
I quickly closed the window on my laptop, slamming the window on the past.
The Now is good. I can't fix those days of being on the outside looking in, but I can sit back and enjoy Olympic archery with a fantastic little person who thinks I walk on water.
