Growing Up With Steven

Chapter 29 - Moving on With Our Lives

The rest of the year was eventful. Steven continued to excel in his gymnastics and swimming. There was even one swimming session where he asked me if he could take springboard diving lessons instead of swimming lessons, so he did this for the latter part of his grade 5 year. Mostly due to his gymnastics, he found diving quite easy and really enjoyed it. Once again, he made new friends and they became part of his group.

There were two gymnastics competitions over the last two months, and I was very impressed with what I saw. Steven had been working on his routines every day, and even doing what he could at home with balances and exercises. It showed in spades at these competitions. The first competition was the all-City Championship. He came in fifth over-all and his team once again got the bronze medal. He was so pumped I thought he might jump out of his skin. One change that had happened for this competition was he invited the Parkers and also grandma and grandpa who all showed up. The two Parker boys rushed over to him and congratulated him on his medal and ribbon. Steven ran to grandma and grandpa to show him his new medal and ribbon. They both hugged him and kissed him on the cheek as they congratulated him.

The last competition of the year was provincials. Steven was pumped and ready. I could see in his eyes the determination to really put out. And put out he did. He won 4 of his six events propelling his team to the silver medal and he won the overall competition for his age group. Nothing could bring Steven down now. He was literally jumping for joy. I ran to him as he jumped up into my waiting arms for a two-way hug. When I let him down, I reminded him to thank his coach. We had purchased a nice gift and card which he ran to get and then ran to his coach and high-fived him as he said than-you and gave him the gift. Even the coach was beaming. The rest of his team was almost mauling him trying to hug him for his efforts. I wanted team pictures, so we all got together, and I took several to hopefully get one really good one. Steven and I planned to host the end of season party and he said that a framed picture of everyone with their silver medal would be a great gift. So that is what we did. I also made one for Steven to give to his grandma and grandpa when they next came over.

Summer was going pretty much the same as in the past. Steven wanted to go back to his swimming as he planned on getting his Senior Swimmer Award sometime over the summer. He accomplished this with flying colors. We signed up for this in the mornings, leaving the afternoons for us to hike, bike ride and do things that should happen in the summer. One big change was when Steven called Aunt Jean and Uncle Owen. He asked if we could come down for two weeks this year. They were delighted to say yes to this. Steven was most thankful. His next call was to Darryl.

I was pretty sure I could hear the cheer on the other end when Steven said he was coming for two weeks this year. The two boys made lots of plans to continue surfing, and also skateboarding. The latter was becoming a big thing in California, so Steven was all in. I was not so sure but decided to leave the decision until later. He proved to be equally skilled in skateboarding but because Darryl had been practicing all year, paled in comparison. We even spent one morning going to a skateboard competition where it was mostly 14 and 15-year-olds competing. They were amazing and both Steven and Darryl thought so. By the time we completed two weeks, I thought Steven looked the typical California boy. His blond hair had kind of bleached in the sun and salt water, he had a tan all over from all the time in the sun and he even had some of the lingo from the California teenagers. As with all things, they must come to an end and once again it was quite a teary goodbye as we prepared to leave the next day. Darryl and his parents had us over to their place for a swim and BBQ. Both boys hugged and broke down while saying goodbye. Steven promised to stay in touch as much as he could. The same was repeated as we left Jean and Owens place with Sir giving Steven a complete face licking and getting a giant hug from Steven. It would be the last time that Steven saw Sir as we got a message that he passed away later in the year. Steven was quite sad about this and wondered if Jean and Owen would get a new dog.