It was a strange feeling the week the four boys were away at camp. Garth and Glen were at the camp they had been to the last few years and Sean and Jake were at Camp Tonawonka with Josh Chambers and Tom Davis. This was the first time Dana and I had been alone in the house for such an extended period of time since we had been married. It was almost bittersweet in that we enjoyed having more time together without the bustle of having the boys' activities preoccupying us, but at the same time, we missed all of them dearly.
"I hope those boys are behaving themselves," Dana said, as we were relaxing by the pool.
"I think you've mentioned that already today, dear," I said, as I gave her a big smile and hug.
"I never thought I'd say this, but it's too quiet around here," she said, as she let out a big sigh.
Despite the busy days she was putting in getting the Old Firehall ready to open, she was at loose ends without them around. She was also busy helping John and Susan to get the loft renovation moving forward now that the stop-work order obstacle had been removed. They were busy picking out furniture and overseeing construction, as well as working on the marketing and business plan for the new venture downstairs. They had also made a small change in Glen's plans that he knew nothing about, which was going to be a huge surprise to him.
We had moved John into a rental apartment in town shortly before the boys left for camp, for the few months until the loft was ready. He was much stronger, but he still wasn't to the point where he would be able to take the boys back to live with him, yet. He was able to put almost a full day in but he wasn't able to do much in the evening as he still needed a lot of rest.
Dana's daughter, Susan, was also spending a lot of time with John and the relationship was growing very strong between them. We didn't ask but Susan was basically living with John as she didn't spend too much time at her place. Dana was torn, as she knew they were adults and capable of making their own decisions, but at the same time, she wanted them to make a formal commitment to each other in the form of an engagement or wedding announcement.
"I'm curious as to why you aren't happy with Susan living with John, but you weren't opposed to us doing the same, before Sean and Jake objected," I said.
"That was us and we had been around the block before. Susan's my daughter and it's different," she said, matter-of-factly.
I sort of knew what she meant and was feeling, even though her statement really didn't make sense. I also knew enough not to pursue the faulty logic, lest I got a look... or some other sanction.
Finally, the boys were all home from camp and things were back to normal quickly. They were all pretty tired, but happy at the week away. Dana fussed over them even though she was on the warpath about the state of some of their clothing, as she was hounding them to get their stuff into the laundry baskets to be washed.
"Garth Webster! Did you spend the whole week rolling around in the dirt? Every t-shirt and pair of shorts you took is filthy," she said, as he dropped his laundry basket off for her in the laundry room.
He tried to deflect attention and tell her that the other boys' clothes were dirty as well. However, Dana wasn't letting him off the hook.
As usual, he had a perfectly logical Garth explanation and he said, "I'm littler than them and I'm closer to the ground. That's why I get dirtier," he said, with a big grin.
The other boys weren't immune from her wrath either. She was helping them separate their clothing even though they had been doing their own laundry for a while. They still hadn't quite picked up the finer points of keeping coloureds separate from whites, as they were usually a little lazy and dumped everything together if she didn't supervise.
"Correct me if I'm wrong, Sean, but that doesn't look like seven days' worth of underwear," she said, as he was putting in his whites with Jake and Glen's.
"We were wearing our bathing suits a lot of the time. I'll go get my coloured stuff," he said with a sheepish smile, as he quickly took off to his room.
We were having dinner later that evening on the patio by the pool. Dana had outdone herself as it was basically a feast. I had BBQ'd some strip loin steaks, but the rest of the meal was her doing.
Garth had to tell us just about everything that happened, including the time that Glen's friend pulled down his swimsuit as he was coming up the ladder of the floating dock in the middle of the swimming area.
"All the girls saw his bare bum," Garth said, as he broke into one of his famous giggles. Poor Glen was embarrassed and was turning red, as Jake and Sean joined Garth's laughter.
Jake was his usual chatty self, as he told us in detail many of the events that happened at Camp Tonawonka, but we knew he was leaving out some big details about the dynamic between the boys and the girls. He was becoming a little more discreet about things like that, which was much to our chagrin.
"So did you boys get to spend lots of time with the girls?" Dana asked, as she was fishing for some more information.
Neither Sean nor Jake was immediately forthcoming with an answer, but finally, Sean said, "We got to hang out a bit together. Tom and Bryan kept us real busy most of the time." Jake and Sean's grins and glances at each other said volumes about what hadn't been spoken.
Sean then told us that he had a great time learning some batting tips from Josh's friend Mark and that he was itching to try them out in his league games.
"Whoa, you should've seen Sean smacking the ball out of the park," Jake said.
I was quite surprised, as most of the time Sean barely got a ball into the outfield in league play, which was a major source of frustration to him.
We also heard a lot about Josh and Tom's dog, Brutus, from both of the boys, but particularly Sean who had really bonded with it. Dana and I could tell that he really longed for a dog, which was something we would have to do some talking about.
"We've got lots of room in the backyard and Jake and I would take care of it," Sean said.
The camp experience was also more than just outdoor activities, as Sean and Jake told me about the website that Melissa and Sean developed about Tom Davis' uncle. I was also surprised when Sean went upstairs to get something to show us.
"Bryan didn't tell us he was giving us this test, but we passed and Melissa and I got these certificates," he said, as he passed it to Dana and me.
"This is a Microsoft Professional Certification in ASP.NET Web development. What did you two do to earn this," I said, with astonishment.
He had also brought down his laptop and had booted it up to the website that Melissa and he had developed over the week with Bryan's help. Sean had done much of the underlying .NET coding, while Melissa had coded the user interface. The website was garnering support for awarding Tom's uncle the Victoria Cross. His uncle had died heroically in World War II, but was passed over for consideration after the war ended. Dana and I were blown away.
"I think we're going to have to adjust your timetable for next year. The Grade 10 computer course is going to be a waste of your time, young man," I said, as I gave him a big smile.
Dana couldn't contain herself and gave him a big hug and kiss, which resulted in him turning a light shade of red. He still wasn't quite used to overt displays of affection.
"I know who's going to help Glen do the Old Firehall's website, now. We don't need that company I was going to hire to do the development," she said. Both Glen and Sean were smiling.
"Tom is also really good at computer programming. He's developed this presentation software that he's maybe going to sell to a big company. He's going to New York city in September to see if he can make a deal," Jake said.
I remember Tom telling me something about it and I was hopeful that he would be successful. I knew that his partner, Bryan, who was a professional programmer in Calgary, had helped him with it. All he needed was a break and he would be on his way to a very lucrative career in the IT industry, as I had a sense that he had the right stuff to make it.
I was so happy at the positive feedback the boys were giving us on their camp experiences. All four boys had a lot of fun, but more than that, they had learned a lot. I was also very happy at the time Jake and Sean had spent with Josh, Tom, Bryan and Mark. They were exactly the type of people that Dana and I wanted the boys to be exposed to. Dana and I also resolved to make sure that Glen and Garth would be going to Tonawonka next year, as well, if Tom and Josh were still going to be involved.
After we had been updated by the boys, it didn't take long for Garth to treat us to his newfound repertoire of jokes that he learned when he was at camp. We were having our tea and he wanted to share some of them with us.
"What's the difference between Bird Flu and Swine Flu?" he asked.
Glen groaned, as he had heard the joke before. Of course none of us had the answer, which delighted him.
"Can you stop giggling long enough to tell us the punch line," Dana said, as we were all chuckling.
"For bird flu you need tweetment and for swine flu you need oinkment," he said, as he used the appropriate sound effects and then broke into a full-scale giggle. It was good to have things back to normal.
Over the course of the next few days, the boys were back to their summer routine of playing golf and practicing Baseball and Soccer. We also needed to get some more golf clothing for all of them. The boys were into the new style of 'colourful' golf clothing and the Proshop had just got a shipment of stuff that was beyond colourful. It was the patterned wear from Loudmouth golf, made popular by John Daly and the Norwegian curling team at the Winter Olympics. When we were picking out their stuff, the older boys tried to push the envelope and were particularly interested in the 'Naughty Cards' and 'Aloha Girls' style shorts.
"Not on your life, boys. Now put those back," Dana said to Jake, Sean and Glen, as she gave them a stern look.
"You can't blame us for trying," Jake said, as the three of them pretended to pout.
However, even with the 'Disco Ball' style and bright pink shirts, they certainly were noticeable.
"You know, in my day, if I'd worn stuff like that when I was your age, I would have been laughed off the course," I said to them, as I chuckled.
Glen had graduated to playing golf with Sean and Jake, while Garth played on the short course with my great-nephew Derek. Glen had athletic talent as he had only begun to play when we took them to Naples, but he was getting better as the season progressed. Although Jake was an excellent golfer with a 12 handicap, Sean was showing exceptional talent. His handicap was almost down to single digits and that was quite an accomplishment given that he wasn't a particularly long hitter. Jake was still able to outdrive him by 10-15 yards on each tee shot, as he had hit his growth spurt and was taller and heavier. I knew that wasn't going to last long, as Sean was starting to fill out and shoot up.
"Man, you should've seen Sean today. He was hitting it 10 yards by me on every hole," Jake said, after one of their rounds.
"We're going to make him play from the championship tees next time," Glen added.
Sean was beaming as we walked to the parking lot. I was curious as to where this newfound length came from, as he hadn't grown that much in a week.
"Those tips Mark gave me about hitting the baseball worked in my golf swing," he said.
"Maybe Mark should give me a lesson too," I said, as I gave him a big smile.
That Sunday, my niece and her family joined us for the contemporary service. Rachel and Jake sat beside each other in the pew and weren't very attentive throughout the service. They certainly were taken with each other.
"What did you two think of the sermon today?" I asked, as we were waiting in line after the service to be greeted by Reverend McLaughlin.
Jake hesitated and finally said, "Um... it was good... as usual."
"Yeah... really... uplifting," Rachel added, with a big smile.
Sean couldn't resist and with a devilish smile he asked, "So what did you think was the best part?"
Both Jake and Rachel gave him a look. I decided my point had been made and let them off the hook.
"I'm sure there wasn't just one part that stood out... was there you two," I said, as we all chuckled.
Garth and my great-nephew, Derek, also got along very well. They weren't too restless throughout the service and appeared as though they got something out of it. The two of them were a pair of space cadets and frequently came out with some interesting perceptions. Derek was used to attending church and was as curious as Garth about religion. Dana and I overheard them in the foyer as we were all still standing around talking.
"God must like to paint and stuff, just like your brother, Glen," Derek said.
Garth asked why he came to that conclusion and he replied, "Cause it says so in his prayer." Now Garth was really confused.
"You know, 'Our Father, who does art in Heaven'," Derek said, with a serious face.
Garth looked like he had just had an epiphany. We couldn't contain our laughter and the boys heard us. My Niece corrected Derek and explained what the real words meant. The two boys laughed and Derek shrugged his shoulders as he wasn't fazed by his mother's correction.
Garth also took a shining to a baby girl, Caitlin, who was a few months old, that belonged to a lesbian couple that attended the church. Angela and Deidre had been married for two years, as gay marriage was legal in Ontario. They had used artificial insemination and Angela bore the child. Garth always made his way over to them after church to see the baby and they usually let him touch her, before we left. He made his way over to them after my niece and her family had left.
He always referred to Angela as the mommy as he didn't really understand the relationship. While he was ogling the baby, he asked Angela why her husband never came to church to which she replied that she didn't have a husband. Angela was a teacher and she recognized that Garth didn't quite understand as he had a puzzled look on his face. She undertook to explain to Garth in a way he would understand.
"Caitlin has two moms, Deidre and me," she said.
He seemed somewhat satisfied at the answer and the fact that Caitlin was holding his finger distracted him. Dana and I knew that we would have some follow up questions from him though, when we got home.
"This is going to be an interesting lunch," Dana said, with a big smile.
"Which chapter in the parenting 101 manual has the answers for this?" I asked, as I let out a big sigh.
Sure enough, within a couple of minutes after Garth had finished his grilled cheese the questions started. The other three boys were amused, as they were waiting to see how we explained this to him.
"How come Caitlin has two moms," he asked.
I started off by explaining the different family structures and explained that sometimes a family could have two moms or two dads. Then Dana took over and explained what it meant to be a parent and that sometimes there was a difference between a biological father and a dad.
"Just like in your case, your birth mother has never been your mom," Dana said.
He was still a little puzzled at how Angela became pregnant and he said, "We learned in school that you had to have a father and a mother to make a baby."
I figured that we weren't finished and I explained how conception took place in language he would understand that I knew had been used in his classroom.
"It's just like when you plant a seed in the ground. A man has to plant a seed in a woman and then the baby grows. In Angela and Deidre's case, another man offered to help them grow a baby and gave a seed to Angela," I said.
Thank goodness that satisfied his curiosity, as I really didn't want to get into how the seed got planted. I could see after we had finished the explanation, the other three boys were smiling and nodding their heads.
As we were cleaning up, Sean patted me on the back with a big smile and said, "You guys are good."
"You know we're going to be asked about how the seed gets into the mother," Jake added, as the two of them chuckled.
Dana overheard us and said, "Just make sure you boys don't get too graphic."
Dana and I had noticed after the reference to Glen and Garth's birth mother not really being a parent, that Glen became a little quiet. He had gone to his room after lunch and hadn't joined the other boys. The two of us went to his room to see what we could do. When we opened the door, he was lying face up on his bed propped up on his pillow. He looked very sombre. We sat down on the bed beside him.
"Glen, I know you're disappointed with how the situation worked out with your father and your birth mother, but you have lots of people who love you and care about you," I said.
"I know. It's just sometimes I wonder why my mother didn't love us," he said, as he became a little choked up.
"I'm sure she did, Glen. Sometimes people become overwhelmed at being a parent and can't cope. I have no idea what her reasons were, but things have a way of working out for the best. You've got lots of good things happening in your life and you need to keep moving forward. You know we're here to help you with anything," Dana said, as she put her hand on his arm.
He calmed down and finally gave us a smile. We left him alone and about ten minutes later he came into the Kitchen and without saying a word he gave us both a hug then went downstairs to join the boys.
"He's come a long way in the last few months," Dana said.
"He has and you're one of the main reasons why," I said, as I gave her a big smile and squeeze.
About an hour later, Susan and John arrived. We weren't expecting them, but we could see on their faces that they had some good news they wanted to share with everyone.
"I'm going to be moving in with you boys and your father when the loft is ready," Susan said, as John and she were smiling as they held hands.
"Are you gonna get married?" Garth asked, with great excitement.
"It'll be just like were married," John said, with a big smile.
It was immediately obvious to all of us that Garth was very disappointed. It was as if someone had taken away his Pooh Bear, as he was crestfallen.
"What's the matter, Garth," John said, as he put his arm around him.
He didn't answer as he hung his head down and wouldn't look at John.
After some coaxing from all of us he finally said, "I thought Glen and me were going to get a real mom."
It was certainly not the reaction Susan and John expected. The rest of their visit was a little strained, as Garth was very subdued. It was hard to read Glen, but I wasn't sure he was all that accepting of the news either. He got along great with Susan, but I think he expected more of a commitment from them as well. Things settled down in the next few days and Garth finally got back to his old self. We had quite a lot of talking to do but he finally was somewhat accepting of the arrangement between Susan and his father.
He was also becoming a soccer fan as the World Cup matches were on TV. Jake and to some extent, Glen, were educating us about the game. Jake was glued to the TV and of course, he was rooting for Italy, but unfortunately, they were beaten in the first round by Slovakia.
"We needed someone like Ronaldo," he said, as he turned off the TV in disgust after they lost.
"Well at least your Buffalo Sabres are a winning team," I said, trying to cheer him up.
While I was not a big fan of watching Soccer on TV, watching a live game where the boys were playing was exciting. I finally got to watch Jake and Glen play a full soccer game, as we didn't have any scheduling conflicts with Garth and Sean's games.
Glen certainly was no slouch on the Soccer pitch as he was very quick and a great defender. Jake, however, was dominating. He and another forward, who was two years older than him, kept the pressure on the other team for most of the game. Jake was very quick and didn't seem to tire, as he kept up the same pace throughout the game. His foot skills were amazing and I could see where is leg skills came from when he played goal in hockey.
Since it was getting warmer and sunnier, Dana had insisted that the boys wear lots of sunscreen when they played, especially Sean, Glen and Garth. They were fair skinned and she was worried about them getting burned and having skin problems in later life. However, it proved to be a problem for Glen, as he sweated more than the other two.
"I can't see. My eyes are stinging like crazy from the sunscreen," he said as he pulled himself off the field for the third time in the game to grab a towel at the sidelines.
"I think we need to stop at the drugstore afterwards and get some sports sunscreen, dear. Your stuff seems to be causing one of our soccer stars a problem," I said to Dana.
After the game, their coach, Lou, had some freezies for the boys and some cold Gatorades, which were well received. Dana and I were talking to some of the parents while Sean, Jake, Glen and Garth were over near the bench. Garth never missed a chance to get a freezie, so he lined up with the players when they were being handed out. Lou came over to us with another man with him, after he had talked to the players about the game.
"Al, this is Mario Longo, who does some scouting for some of the American universities," Lou said.
"Mr. and Mrs. Burger, your son Jake is quite a player," Mario said, as he shook hands.
He told us that he was at the game to scout the older boy that Jake was playing with on the forward line, as his name had been passed on to him.
"Lou tells me Jake is still fourteen. He has a great deal of talent," he said.
He told us about the Ontario under-17-year-old evaluation camp that was being held in Toronto in August and that he thought Jake should come for the experience. He gave us his card and then went over to talk to the parents of the other boy that he came to scout. Dana and I were very surprised at this new development. Since neither one of us knew much about soccer, we hadn't really realized how good Jake was.
"Mr. Burger, I kept telling you that Giacomo was a star," Lou said with a big smile.
When we told Jake about what the scout had said on the way home he was all smiles. His reaction was typical Jake as he never got too excited about things like that.
"Cool!"
"Wow, can I have your autograph," Sean said, as the other three boys laughed.
That evening Jake was presented with a conundrum. His Uncle and Aunt from Italy called and asked him to come and stay with them in August, the same week the evaluation camp was being held. He didn't give them a commitment as he said he wanted to talk it over with Dana and me. His main concern was not the evaluation camp, but that he felt he was letting down his soccer team as well as feeling guilty that Sean didn't have the chance to go with him.
"Are you nuts, man? That's part of your family. You have to go," Sean said, after Jake had voiced his concerns.
After about fifteen minutes of all of us talking to him and encouraging him to go, he finally agreed and called his Uncle back.
"That'll work out perfectly. You can just hop a plane and join us in Paris after your visit," I said, as Dana and I smiled after he got off the phone.
After I explained that I had booked a trip to France and Spain before all the boys went to school in August, they finally figured out what I had meant, as I had been keeping it a surprise.
"Do Glen and I get to go too?" Garth asked, with a concerned look.
"No. We're hiring a mean nanny to stay with you two," I said, as I teased him.
"Of course you're going," Dana said, as she hugged him. She looked at me to see if I was going to tell them the rest of the plans.
"Someone else is joining us near the end of the week," I said to Glen and Garth.
"My daughter and your father are flying over for the last few days in Spain," Dana said.
I thought Garth was going to burst, he was so excited. The other boys were excited, but not to the extent that Garth was. The renovation and store opening was getting to a crucial stage and Susan and John couldn't commit to the entire week. As well John wasn't sure his stamina would hold up, so this was a compromise.
We were glad that Garth and Glen were OK with the arrangement and we were happy that John and Susan could enjoy the time together as a family with the boys.
The team schedules were working out very nicely over the next week. Just as there was no conflict with Jake and Glen's last soccer game, there was no conflict with Garth's T-ball game and Sean's baseball game. The whole family was able to make both of them. Sean had been working with Garth on his hitting over at the park near the house. I hadn't seen any of their sessions but Garth had kept us up-to-date with his progress.
"I can really smash the ball now that Sean showed me how," he said, after the last session before his game.
"Maybe Dad should put you as the last batter," Sean said, as he bumped knuckles with him.
This was the first game Garth had played since he came back from camp and most of the kids were glad to see him. It wasn't necessarily for his athletic skills, but he kept the bench lively with his jokes and infectious humour.
Garth's first at-bat wasn't very spectacular, as he hit more of the T than the ball, causing it to roll partway to the pitcher who threw it to first for the out. However, the second at-bat was quite different. He took a mighty swing and finally kept his eye on the ball, sending it sailing over the outfielders' heads. They weren't expecting such a good hit and had moved in. He managed to get a home run and drove in the other two boys who were on base.
"Where did that come from?" the other assistant coach Anita asked, as she gave him a big smile and a high five after he touched home base.
All the boys were hooting and hollering as he came back to the bench. He had the biggest smile on his face I had ever seen.
That play, however, was tempered by what happened the next inning. The ball rolled into the outfield between Garth and the nearest fielder, Jamie, who was our weakest player. Garth ran to the ball and picked it up, but Jamie hadn't moved. Instead of throwing the ball to one of the infielders to stop the play, Garth ran to Jamie and gave him the ball. I could see Garth telling him what to do and finally Jamie threw it into the infield. By this time the batter had just crossed home plate. We were all yelling at the two of them to no avail. When the inning was over Garth and Jamie walked in together and I could see that Garth was talking to him explaining what he should've done.
"I'm sure you had a very good reason, Garth, why you gave the ball to Jamie. Do you think you could explain it to me?" I asked, as gently as I could given my level of frustration, as Anita and I were standing there when he came to the bench.
"Jamie hadn't had a chance to throw the ball yet, so I gave it to him," he said, with a smile. I figured as much, as Garth's sense of fair play in sports was a little different than most other people.
"That was very thoughtful of you to think of Jamie, but you kind of let the rest of your teammates down," Anita said, as she was trying to calm herself.
His face went very serious as he thought about what she said. Finally, it registered what we were trying to tell him.
"Ah. Ok, I'll throw it in next time," he said, as he smiled and went to sit down.
Anita and I just looked at each other and rolled our eyes.
Garth had a chance to redeem himself in the last inning, as the head coach, Gary, decided to make him the last batter. I could see him beaming as he walked up to the batter's box and got ready. By now the outfielders on the other team knew he could hit and had moved back a little, but not enough. He cracked one over their heads and drove in two other runs, as we won the game.
"Garthy! You're Mr. Powerhitter," Glen said, as he high-fived him after the game.
I'm not sure who was smiling more between Sean and Garth. Sean was very pleased at his 'pupil' and bumped knuckles with him and then high fived him. As we were walking over to the next field to get ready for Sean's game, Dana had a chance to talk to me.
"What on earth was Garth doing when he ran the ball over to Jamie," Dana asked.
"Well everyone has to have a chance to get into the game. You know Garth," I said, as I gave her a big smile. She just shook her head, smiled and gave a big sigh.
When we got to the other park, Doreen Spencer was sitting in the stands, as Carson was playing on the other team. We sat down with her and she brought us up-to-date with her divorce proceedings.
"Mrs. Morgan certainly is very thorough," she said.
She told us that her husband had decided to contest the divorce and was asking for joint custody. Suzie had hired a private detective to investigate his earnings, as he was a self-employed IT consultant and she was sure he was hiding how much he was making. Although Doreen was financially able to support Carson and herself, Suzie made it clear that she needed to make him responsible. Suzie had also filed a motion for sole custody, which had infuriated the father.
"He really doesn't care about Carson. He's just another one of his possessions that he's fighting to hold onto," she said, with anger.
The game turned out to be a very good one for Sean. His first at bat ended in a very long fly ball being caught by the left fielder, but we were all impressed even though he was out. That was the longest hit I had seen from him all season. The next two at bats where much better, as he hit home runs both times. The last one was the winning run that ended the game.
"I want the name of that camp that Sean went to last week. We need to send some more players there to learn how to hit," his coach said with a big smile, as he met us outside the dugout after the game.
Sean was taking in all the praise from his team mates, as well as Garth, Glen and Jake.
"It's my turn to get an autograph, slugger," Jake said, as we all laughed.
As we walked to the parking lot, Dana gave him a big hug. She was learning, as she knew he would be embarrassed if she had done that in front of the rest of the team and coaches.
"We're going to have to call you Mickey," she said to him.
He didn't know what she was talking about and finally she said, "You know, Mickey Mantle. Google his name when you get home."
As we got closer to the LX, we caught up to Carson and his mom. The boys asked if they could invite Carson to come over and swim after the game and Dana and I said yes.
"I can pick you up later, dear," Doreen said to Carson.
He didn't want to come and declined the invitation, despite all of us trying to persuade him. I was really concerned at his behaviour, as this was a drastic change from the brash, obnoxious, over-confident kid that had played hockey against us a few months ago.
"Thank you for your generous offer, Al and Dana. I'm very worried about him. He hasn't been himself for a couple of weeks. I think it's time for some intervention," she said, as he had taken off for their car.
Since she was in the healthcare field, she had her contacts that she was going to tap into. I was confident that she would be able to get him the help he needed. I had my suspicions about what was wrong and I was sure that Doreen suspected the same.
Susan and John showed up at the house unannounced one evening the next week. When they came in the door Dana's mouth fell open immediately.
"You must have radar, Mom," Susan said, with a big smile.
I wasn't sure what was going on until Dana lifted Susan's left hand revealing a very beautiful diamond ring. We congratulated them and were then joined by all the boys. When Garth realized what had happened, he was beside himself and made a beeline for Susan.
"Now I'm gonna have a Daddy and a mom," Garth said, as he gave her a big hug.
Dana and I weren't sure what had changed their minds, but we were as happy as Garth and Glen at the news.