Ever since he was just tiny, sometimes Jack would get "heavy eyes" in the afternoon, and on one visit to an Italian Restaurant in Chapel Hill, North Carolina, everyone still remembers it. Ann and I spoiled him. Jack loved spaghetti, but he ate it with his hands when he was just small.
In that restaurant, Jack had his dinner spread completely across his face. He looked like one of the characters in Lord of the Flies, all besmeared with marinara for war paint--in his hair, his pants, his shirt and up to his elbows. My son's in-laws watched in awe, at least we thought that's what it was at the time. I hope it wasn't in absolute horror. Jack didn't make any noise in the restaurant. We just planned on getting a couple of napkins and cleaning him up before we left.
But during the meal, more exactly after he finished his, like the ancient T-Rex, he found slumber, and his head almost dropped into the plate. We moved the plate to the side, and he stayed in the high chair the restaurant was so nice to provide us with at that time.
We still talk about that visit. We talk about that, and we talk about his seeing lightning bugs for the first time in North Carolina. Our daughter-in-law would catch them in her hands, shake them a bit, and turn them loose. They would flutter in a small glow in the darkness. "Tink!" Jack stood amazed, seeing one of his favorite characters from Neverland flutter before his eyes.
These are the stories I remember about Jack and about Tommy and about Anna. But recently, we took Jack to a local restaurant, and he fell asleep like he once did, and memories flooded back to me.
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