Another Steal from Betsy

Breakfast drink for the morning. It's pre-mix chocolate milk. Rating 6/10.  --Timothy Yu, 2/7/16

As told to a packed house 6-6-16...

The Qualities of Chocolate Milk

 

Adam was the first, like his namesake.  The first in our world.  The first grandchild, the first nephew—he was there at the beginning.  He held all our love for a long time. More kids followed for all of us, but he was the leader, the one they could look to for life lessons—how to persevere, be strong.

Adam could be a bit of a contrarian—was that an understatement?  Sometimes we’d be having a conversation, and I’d think, “Wait, am I in an argument with Adam?  Crap, yes, I’m arguing with Adam.  And not only that, I’m losing this argument I didn’t know I was in—grrr.”  But if we were in a group, I always wanted Adam on my side.  I didn’t want to go up against him—his passion, his fierceness.  He was also a defender—he’d take up for someone if he saw them faltering.  He did that for Ethan a lot—stepping in to help him make his point, showing him how to clarify.  I knew Ethan was listening, learning because after we saw Adam, Ethan would be a little more defiant, more challenging and he’d echo Adam’s arguments.  How many times over the years did I say, “You sound just like Adam”?  I know his brothers learned the same, the courage to stand up for their convictions, to express their thoughts and be heard.

But that was only a part of Adam’s larger interest in life—in questioning and examining.  When Adam was about 13, he took a trip with Mom, Dad, Ethan and me to North Dakota.  (Adam was always ready to go—traveling even when he was still.)  At every meal, he’d order chocolate milk.  Now to most of us, chocolate milk is just a drink to go with your meal—not that interesting.  If you asked most kids how was the milk, they’d say fine or good.  But to Adam every glass was unique.  Was it pre-made or did they add chocolate to the milk?  If so, was it enough chocolate or too much?  Was it stirred properly or was the long spoon left in it so Adam could stir as he went.  Did you know sometimes they don’t bother to stir it, leaving that to the customer?  He even developed a rating system, comparing the milks along the way.  How could he make milk so interesting?  I don’t know, but we all looked forward to that first sip, then listening to Adam expound on the qualities of chocolate milk.  I’m sure you can all think of examples like that.  Adam could exasperate you, but you loved him all the more for it in the end because he cared so much about things and people many of us would never even notice.  He made you pay attention.

The last time I saw Adam, I told him to come give me a hug. He slowly unfolded himself from the couch, stood and stretched.  (Did you ever notice how deliberate he was in his movement?)  As he walked toward me for his hug, he said, with that edge of laughter in his voice that also contained some uncertainty, “Why?  You’ll only tell me how skinny I am…”  And it was true, I had been bugging him about that lately and was always worrying over him.  I told him, no, I wasn’t going to say that.  And, as I held him, I said, “You’re perfect.”  And he was.

So the waitress at Sunrise Cafe made my chocolate milk into a smiley face. How cuuuuutttteeee. 
--Ashleigh Elizabeth Lockhart, 2/12/16