Paper Airplanes
At night, we built paper airplanes. Sometimes we made roses out of napkins. Other times we played paper football where one person holds up their fingers like a goal post and the other person flicks a piece of paper folded triangularly at it. We took straws and dripped water on the straw paper to make it coil like a snake.
We sat at Table 1. It was the largest table at the restaurant, and for some reason, I rarely recall anyone else sitting there but us. We sat there and did our homework. We ate our dinner there. My dad sat there when he took a break and watched the TV the size of a toaster oven that sat on top of one of the freezers in front. Star Wars. The Good, the Bad, & the Ugly. Seinfeld. That's what was usually on the screen.
When customers thinned, whatever waitress worked that night sat with us, taking a fork and knife and rolling it up as tight as possible into a napkin until she had a mountain of silverware. She'd take the glass ketchup bottles from each table and booth and combine them. One bottle stood on top of the other, neck to neck. We took care not to knock them over.
I built Brooke her first paper airplane which sent these memories to mind. At our last family beach trip, my dad played paper football with the kids. Shane and I recently started watching Seinfeld beginning at Season 1. The only thing missing is Table 1.