It was the final game of the Olympics. The teams: US and Canada. Jessykah Draiman and the Americans had slaughtered every other country they’d come up against. David and Brie has special seats above all of the action to watch their daughter dominate from. Jeans, a sleeveless shirt, and boots were David’s clothes of choice. Brie however took advantage of being in the tropical climate and wearing tank tops and shorts. She was still in excellent shape and NO ONE complained- least of all David.
When the Umpire would make a call that David didn’t agree with that affected his daughter, he had something to say and made his opinion known- though the Umpire couldn’t hear him. “Come on, Ump! That was a shitty call! That ball wasn’t foul because of the pitch; the stupid batter can’t hit worth a damn!”
Brie would calm him down by saying, “Baby, he’s not perfect, unlike you.” She knew it was stroking his ego, but if that’s what it took to get him to lay off the umpire, that’s what she would do.
After she’d say that, he just nod and say, “It’s ok, Jessi, you’ve still got three more pitches. Striker her out, baby girl!” And that’s what she’d do. “Yes! That’s my GIRL!” he’d cheer when she’d strike them out.
It was the bottom of the ninth, one on the bases. Jessi had struck out two of the three other players that had come to the plate. Both of her parents were on the edge of their seats as they sat and watched their daughter play the only game she loved. She kept the player in first in her peripherals to makes sure that they didn’t try to steal second. Every time the so much as flinched, Jessi was there with her arm pulled back ready to throw the ball the second they took their foot off of the base. Finally, she wound up to pitch let the ball go at speeds that were unbelievable. The bat connected and Jessi caught it, then spun to throw it to third base. Two outs in one pitch; the game was over. The United States Women’s Softball team was taking home gold. David and Brie were out of their seats screaming and cheering as they watched the team take the field and hoist Jessi into the air to celebrate. Jessykah “The Cannon” Draiman was the MVP of the Olympic Softball team. Neither of her parents could have been more proud. The team had just enough time to pull on their track suit jackets before they accepted their gold medals. The Draiman parents watched with pride as the medal was slipped around their youngest child’s neck and proudly sang the national anthem as it played to honor the gold medalists. After the medal ceremony was over, David and Brie grabbed the very feared and respected Morbus, aka Trevor in the family circle, and headed to the locker room.
The game ball was being presented to Jessi when they walked into the locker room. She spotted her parents after the coach had given her the ball. She ran to them and showed them the medal. “I told you I was going to win the Gold for you”, she said with a smile. She threw her arms around their necks.
“So you did”, Brie laughed. “We’re proud of you, baby girl.”
“I second your mother’s sentiments on that, baby. We’re very, very proud of you.”
“Thanks!”, Jessi said with a huge smile.
“Wow”, Brie said. “We have quite an interesting family, David.”
“I would have to agree. We have two rock stars, one Nobel Prize winning doctor, a philosopher, a potential professional football player, a NASA scientist, a dancer, a massage therapist/ herbal genius, a audio/ visual genius, and an Olympic Gold Medalist. What an interesting bunch we raised.”
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Jordan walked into her parents’ house to find her younger brother sitting on the couch with his fiancée watching television. He was watching a documentary on Ancient Greece that he need to watch for a paper he had to write for one of his classes. “Man, I’m glad that all of my General Ed. Classes transferred from one major to the other or getting this Associates’ would be a total bitch”, Jeremiah said with a sigh.
“Why are you pushing yourself so hard to get so much done?” Jona asked.
“I’m an overachiever like all of my siblings and my parents before me”, he laughed.
“Hey, fucker”, Jordan said as she flopped down in one of the fluffy arm chairs, “I resemble that remark.” She laughed.
“Oh, all of us do”, Jeremiah laughed again.
“Dude, can you pause that a moment? I need to talk to you about the Kennedy Center thing for Dad.”
Jeremiah paused the program he was watching with his fiancée for class and looked to his sister. “Please tell that you, Royce, and Ryan have come to a consensus on the songs.”
“Oh, there’s no consensus. There’s me putting my foot down and saying that I’m NOT going to tolerate any more of them trying to tell me what my father’s best songs are. We’re going to do this MY way, no highway option.”
“Ok then, Jord, what’s your way, then?” Jeremiah asked.
“I’m scrapping half of the list. We’re keeping ‘Sickness’, ‘Prayer’, and ‘Never Again’. I’m adding, ‘Ten Thousand Fists’, ‘Inside the Fire’, and ‘Another Way to Die’.”
“Yikes! Do you think they’ll go for it?”
“I don’t give a fuck. If they don’t like it, they can kiss my famous ¾ Jew ass. This is how things are going to be done. I don’t care if they like it or not.”
“I’ll be sure to tell Mom when I talk to her next”, Jeremiah said with a sigh.
“Speaking of, when are she and Dad due home?”
“Soon, I think. Oh, we now have an Olympic Gold Medalist in the family.”
“Jessi and the US Softball team won gold?”
“Yeah. She convinced the entire team to start getting massage before warm-ups and there were plenty of therapists on hand that would do it. She’s going to stick around for the closing ceremonies, but she’s pretty much done. She’s pretty excited from what I understand.”
“Man, two award winning rock stars, a Nobel prize winning doctor, a potential NFL player, and an Olympic Gold medalist; not to mention a future NASA scientist, a religious philosopher, an herbalist/massage therapist, an A/V genius, and a dancer- all in one family. God must have smiled on our parents when he was designing the plans for our lives because we’re all really shocking the hell out of everyone.”
“You can say that again”, Jeremiah said with a chuckle as he hit the play button on the DV-R.
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The Draiman parents were finally home. Jessi would be a week behind them. She was doing her first semester at Loyola online because of the games. They had no sooner walked in the door than Jordan was pulling Brie upstairs into the office to update her on the set list for the Kennedy Center. “For the love of God, Jordan, can’t I put my things away before you drag me into my office to tell me these things?” Brie shouted as Jordan dragged her up the stairs by the wrist.
“No. This is important, Mom. I need to talk to you NOW”, Jordan said. Once the office door was closed, Jordan sat her mother down. “I’ve already told Jeremiah, but I’m changing the set list and if the boys that will be singing don’t like it they can kiss my ¾ Jew ass. It’s MY way; NO highway option. It’s MY father’s ceremony.”
“Well, I’m sure that Jeremiah will let me know what you decided. I need a shower and to put my things away before I start dinner for the night. I will worry about the Kennedy Center thing tomorrow.”
“You sure, Mom? I know you have to have the list and stuff in soon.”
“I have to have that stuff in to the committee by Thanksgiving. Marc will have the video finished and to me so that Jake can narrate it here in the next few weeks. He promised it two weeks before Thanksgiving.”
“Ok, Mom. Then, I guess I need to get out of your hair so that you can get cleaned up and organized before dinner. Oh, Davina and I want to show everyone something after dinner tonight.”
“Ok. I’ll warn your father.”
“No need, I need to talk to him for a few so, I’ll warn him. And I’ll let you know, you’re going to see me move like you’ve never seen me move before.”
Brie laughed. “Oh, LORD. Davi taught you how to hula, didn’t she?” Jordan just shrugged and left the room to the sound of her mother laughing.
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After dinner that night, Jordan gathered everyone on the back porch. There was a fire going in the pit on the porch. David thought it would be nice to sit on the porch with the family and relax without sitting in front of the TV. “Mama, Daddy, Davi and I want to show you something.” Jordan said as she stood and pulled Davina to her feet.
“Ok, show us”, David laughed.
“Now, I want to warn everyone that it’s not the same without music, but I’ll sing the words as we do this”, Davina said as she and Jordan put on grass skirts.
“Ok”, Brie said as she fought not to laugh.
Jordan and swaying as Davina sang in Hawaiian. It was a very pretty song, but no one understood a word she was saying. When they were finished, there was a round of applause from the entire family. They took a bow and sat back down. “Jordan, Davina, that was really good”, David said. “It was very pretty.”
“Thanks, Dad”, they said together. Davina continued. “I wanted to teach Jordan a little about where I’m from, so I taught her to hula. I’ve been teaching Levi things about where I’m from too.”
“It’s good for him to know about where both of his parents are from”, David said.
“I totally agree. And it’s also important for both of his parents to know where the other comes from as well”, Brie assed.
“So, Davina, I know we don’t talk with you a lot, but, why don’t you let us in on where you’re from”, David asked.
“I’m from Hawaii. But, my parents are both immigrants. My father’s from Samoa and my mother’s from Tonga. I’m actually fluent in both languages as well as Hawaiian. My parents made sure that my sisters and I all knew about their homelands and after the war, we were actually taken out to Samoa and Tonga to see the islands.”
“That had to be an interesting experience”, Brie added.
“It was as interesting as Jake going to Ireland, Germany, and Poland to trace your family history. We were taken to the very sites that our parents were born at. There were no hospitals on these tiny little islands and the huts had been washed away by one of any number of Hurricanes or floods.”
“Nice. Well, Davi, I know I’ve said it before, but I’ll say it again. We’re glad to have you as a part of our family.”
“Thanks, Mom; that means a lot to me. It really does.”
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