Mike Ruman | Husband, Father, Friend, Fighter

The other night was ‘date night’ with the wife.

Rarrrr!

Yeah.

We ended up at the local bowling alley.

About 4 lanes down from us there was a group of people that many would refer to as, well, rednecks.

Tanks tops. Tattoos. Patchy looking facial hair. Budweiser.

These folks had a bunch of kids with them, probably 7 – 10 years of age.

And the kids were bowling with the parents. And they were having a blast.

Parents and the kids.

Sure they were loud, obnoxious, liquored up a bit, but everyone was there having fun.

Together.

Contrast that with the scene the following night at our local YMCA.

Organized basketball was going on in the gym.

Inside the gym it was filled with kids, probably 7 – 10 years of age.

Outside the gym it was filled with the parents. All of them on their cell phones.

Texting.

Talking.

Surfing the web.

Point is they were with their kids, but they weren’t with their kids.

I don’t know, maybe you’re like ‘so what? get to the point already!’.

My point is maybe we can learn a lesson from the bowling alley parents.

Growing up I played quite a bit of organized sports. I was decent. No Uncle Rico. But then again, who is?

And you know what? The memories I have today aren’t of baseball practice.

Or basketball practice.

They are of my family out on the boat.

Together.

Family camping trips.

Together.

Family doing nothing.

Nothing…together.

Bittersweet.

That’s the best word I can find to explain how I feel today. You see today we lost a son, albeit a foster son, but a son nonetheless.

Our 17 month old foster son, let’s call him Kyle, came into our world on Labor Day and he has been, well, a complete blessing to us.

We currently have a 2 year old of our own, so with Kyle that gives us 2 under 2. I’ll be honest I’ve struggled with having two boys under two. They are a lot of work.

Understatement.

But, they’ve been so much fun to have.

Here’s my Top 5 Memories of Kyle:

1. Watching Kyle “play” with the kitty (Ninja Ron).
   Let’s just say Kyle liked to ride the kitty like it was a miniature pony. It was cute, but not for the kitty. I think the only person glad to see him leave is the Kitty (Ninja Ron).
2. Kyle Making his mean face.
   At dinner the other night Kyle had a piece of bread. Kyle did his best “Hulk Smash!” impression and crushed the bread like he was, well, the Hulk. He also did this really funny/mean face and went “arrgh”. It was hil-a-ri-ous.
3. Bath time with the boys.
   Both boys get a bath at the same time, Lisa’s idea. I like to play a little game called “Red Light, Green Light” with them, Lisa doesn’t like the idea. But, there is a lot of splashing involved, a lot.
4. Seeing how Cooper loves on Kyle.
   Kyle has become Cooper’s best friend. When you give Cooper a cookie he says “Kyle?” and gives one to Kyle. The little guy cares, he loves, his little brother. Amazing what kids can teach you about love.
5. Kyle’s dancing.
   The little guy can ‘cut a rug’. Just put a little “If You’re Happy and You Know It” on and you have an instant dancing machine. I’ll miss that.

The house will be quieter tonight. Boys will not be fighting over the same toy.

The baths won’t be as wet. Splash won’t be as fun with just one little guy playing.

The dinner table will have one less mouth to feed.

And maybe, just maybe, we’ll get to sleep through the night…