Recently I was attending a family reunion in another state. This incident occurred in my grandfather’s den. Us grandchildren affectionately refer to this grandfather as “Pa”. I was sitting in the den with a cold beer, along with my cousin Desmond whom I haven’t been on good terms with. My aunt forced us to make amends, as I had given him the silent treatment for a year over a minor injury I sustained due to his inattentiveness that occurred at the last family reunion. We had begun to talk a little, but I mainly spoke to him in sentence fragments, as I was still a little angry.

I could hear Pa approaching, and noticed that Desmond was sitting in the bright red recliner that was directly in front of the television, usually where Grandpa sat when he hung out in this room. Grandpa’s silhouette filled the doorway, and he looked a little miffed. Desmond didn’t even notice that Grandpa was there.

I cleared my throat. “Des. Pa. Seat.”

“Oh!”