#125: Son Of Lou

TEN YEARS AGO

NEW ORLEANS

We drove north a few blocks, and I said,"We're approaching the Metarie Cemetery. Check it out----This thing runs for, like, miles."

Paul Matthew was asleep in the back. It didn't take much in the way of a car ride to put him to sleep---As soon as the car started, he dropped off immediately. We could drive like the Dukes of Hazzard, and he'd sleep through it entirely. We drove along the Metarie Cemetery.

"I suppose you want to get out and look at it," Michelle said.

"Huge haunted cemetery? Who wouldn't?"

We drove around until we found a place to pull over. I got out, and said,"Take my picture."

"What the hell do you want me to do with the baby, leave him here?!?"

"Nope," I said. I pulled Paul out of the back, still asleep. "He's coming, too. First photo with Daddy."

I stood by the elaborate crypts, and held the baby. And my wife took my picture with my son for the first time.

NOW

"Pomp And Circumstance" was playing as I sat in the auditorium. Let's get one thing straight, those dumb-ass "graduations" they have these days, for every grade from kindergarten up, are ridiculous. They mean nothing. It's not a graduation until you're done high school.

But....Then my kid was called and walked across the stage.

Paul was wearing a blue button-down shirt with fish on it, and a black bow tie. He beamed as he walked up and accepted his diploma. And, as stupid as I've always thought the whole thing is, I applauded for the kid.

Outside, we caught up with him, standing with his class. He announced happily,"Everyone else chose to leave after the ceremony! I'm gonna be the only kid in class today!"
"I once had something like that experience," I said. "Proud of you. You want me to take those home?"

He handed me the diploma and the award he'd won. He asked,"Can you guys pick me up a sandwich and bring it to school for lunch?"

"We can do that," agreed Michelle.

"We'll be right over," I said.

"I got you a gift," Michelle said. She handed Paul a small package.

He opened it. Inside was a bracelet with the design of a little compass on it. Paul smiled, and slid it on his wrist.

The engraving said,"The Adventure Begins."

"So I thought for your tenth birthday, we could have a little birthday adventure," I said.

"Yeah," said Paul. "I like that. What are you thinking?"

"How about a haunted cemetery?"

'That sounds good."

"Ten years ago, when you were a baby, you and I got our first picture together in a haunted cemetery. I'm thinking Stamm Cemetery in Wayne Township. There's a couple of ghosts said to be there, and I've checked into it a couple of times before."

"Okay!"

"Let's plan for about seven on Sunday night, the night before your birthday."

It was storming out when I walked in the door after work Saturday. I had gotten soaked riding home. My rainbow ghost shirt was wet on the shoulders. Paul was on the couch, with a set of new toys.

"Aunt Paula sent me these for my birthday," he said.

"Aunt Paula sends the best presents," I said. "You need to send her a message thanking her."

"Yeah. I will. Look, this is a game kind of like a Rubik's Cube. Can you put batteries in it?"

"I will. What else you got there?"

"She sent me a frisbee that lights up!"

I looked the frisbee over. It had a row of lights around the rim that lit up brightly in different colors. "That's pretty cool. We can have some fun with that."

"And she sent me a new watch." He pressed a button on the watch, and a little light came on. "It has a flashlight."

"Oh, that's cool. That would be perfect for ghost hunting."

"I know. I'm gonna wear it tomorrow. You want to go play with the frisbee?"

"Yeah, I kinda do. Let's go play in the back yard."

Paul and I were behind the house, tossing the frisbee back and forth. A couple of times it went over the fence, and I had to walk around to the neighbor's yard to retrieve it. But it was a fun time---Throwing it back and forth, watching it light up.

Ten years. Paul had been fourteen hours old when we'd first gotten him. Nine pounds, lying asleep in a little hospital carrier. We'd spent a couple of days in the maternity ward, and then they'd let us go to a hotel. We'd had to stay in the hotel for two weeks while all the legal stuff had been ironed out. I'd geocached a bit, looked around for ghosts, checked for the Honey Island Swamp Monster....but mostly, I'd spent time in the hotel with my son.

Michelle pulled the Jeep up alongside the Stamm Cemetery. "You want me to wait here, or should I pick you up later?"
"Go run your errands," I said. "We'll be here."
I had my shirt with the ghost drinking coffee. I pulled my vest over it---I'd brought one of the travel vests, on the basis that it was way too hot for the usual bulletproof one. Paul and I walked into the cemetery.

I held out an EMF detector and a thermometer. "You have a preference?"

He immediately grabbed the thermometer. I said,"This place is said to be haunted by a man who hung himself from an oak tree by the river. I'm gonna see if I get any readings over there, maybe where the tree used to stand."

I walked along the river with my EMF detector, until Paul called over,"Got a hot spot over here, Dad."

I walked back over. He was standing near a collapsed stone with initials on it. I ran my fingers over the worn stone. "H...R...O. Have to check that out later."

"I have a big temperature difference here."

"Might be something. Let's keep checking."

We walked through the cemetery, taking readings. Paul said,"Gotta admit, Daddy, I'm getting a little bored. Can we go down to the park?"

"Sure." I'd wisely chosen a haunted cemetery very near a playground with this possibility in mind. "But first, let's get ourselves another photo of you and me in a haunted cemetery."

We walked down to the playground, and Paul immediately began climbing on things. I let him play around for a while, and then said,"Come here, kid. Got a birthday present for you."

"What is it?" He walked over, and I handed him a box. Paul pulled it open, and slid out a travel mug. "It's so cool! It has Bigfoot being abducted by a UFO on it!"

"I have the exact same design on a T-shirt."

"I'm gonna take this on our trip to Pittsburgh."

I looked at my watch. "Ten years ago, right now, we were coming to get you. We'd gotten the call that the baby was coming, and we jumped in the car to drive to New Orleans."

"You got the call right now?"

"That happened at about three in the afternoon. About now, ten years ago, we were...Probably halfway through Virginia. We got into Tennessee and got a hotel room for a couple of hours, then drove in the morning."

"Was I in Tennessee?"

"You were in Tennessee on the way back. You slept through most of it. In the morning, we got in the car and kept driving. We got the call that you'd been born at 7:17 AM, and we got there about nine-thirty that night. Happy birthday, little man."

TEN YEARS AGO

LOCK HAVEN

We drove home from Georgia on a Thursday, through South Carolina, North Carolina, Virginia, West Virginia, Maryland, and finally Pennsylvania. We were home at eight PM, and in spite of the fact that he'd slept the whole way, Paul was still tired.

I laid him down in his crib.

"Goodnight, little guy," I said. "Sleep good. I'll see you in the morning." I paused at the door. "I love you, Paul Matthew."

NOW

Paul had had a good day. We'd finished up by letting him stay up late with me, which we often did in the summer. We'd watched a movie for a while, and finally I'd given up around eleven, and we'd headed off to bed, Rosie and Butters trailing along.

The three of them jumped into his bed, and I pulled the covers up over him.

"Can you turn on my TV, Daddy?"

I found the remote and turned it on.

"Get some rest, little man. Big day tomorrow." I leaned over and gave him a kiss on the forehead. "Love you."