Once More for Old Times' Sake

“Come on! It will be fun!” 

“What if we hurt ourselves, Joe?” Margaret asks as she looks out the bay window at the thick blanket of white covering their lawn.

Taking her hand in his, he says, “Maggie, what if we don’t and end up having the time of our lives?”

Soft pink rises through the wrinkles of her cheeks. “You haven’t called me Maggie in about as many years as it’s been since the last time we did this.” 

Eyebrows raised, he asks, “Well?” 

After an exaggerated sigh, she nods as a sheepish smile forms. He takes her hand and leads her to the bedroom where they put on layers to keep warm in the thirty-one-degree weather. 

As she pulls on her long socks Joe pokes his head in her closet and says, “Make sure you put on your heaviest coat. I’m going to the cellar to dig out the grandkids’ old sleds.” She nods as she pulls on one more pair of socks. Barely able to move, she wobbles toward the door of the bedroom. At the end of the hall, she sits on the bench and pulls on her boots. Opening the closet door, she pulls out the heaviest coat she has, puts on her sparkly hat with the little ball on top, wraps her scarf around her face and neck, and tugs on her gloves.

Just as she reaches for the door Joe comes in. “Margaret, is that you?” 

She giggles and replies with a muffled yes. He takes her hand and they walk to the sleds that are leaning against the fence. Joe looks over at her and sees her staring at the sled. At that moment, when all he can see is her eyes, he sees the beautiful girl he fell in love with fifty-five years ago. The beautiful girl is now a lovely woman who has given him a lifetime of love and friendship. 

“What are you thinking about?” Margaret asks as he walks back toward her and hugs her.

“How much I love you and how grateful I am you said yes.”

She giggles again. “Me saying yes to sledding made you happy?”

“No, that you said yes to marrying me.”

“Oh, Joe.” She reaches for him and hooks her arm in his. “Let’s do this before I change my mind.” They laugh as he grabs the ropes and drags the sleds behind them. 

Across from their neighborhood is a golf course. The owner is a local man and a good friend of Margaret and Joe. He encourages children and families to sled and play on the course when it snows. On snow days, he and his wife visit the course a couple of times a day with hot chocolate just to say hi and see who is there playing.

Margaret and Joe find a small hill and trudge up it. At the top, Martha shakes her head as she looks down.

“How many years has it been since we first met on this same hill? How many years since we first introduced our children to sledding on this hill? Oh, Joe. Where did the time go?” 

“It’s been a lifetime. A beautiful lifetime.” He pulls her close when he sees her tearing up. “What do you say? Are you ready to do this?” 

Before she can answer, two teenage girls go running by, screaming and laughing, as two boys chase after them with snowballs in hand. 

Although he cannot see her lips, Joe sees Margaret’s smiling eyes through the slit between her hat and scarf. 

“I remember those days,” she says.

“Would you like me to chase you with a snowball? Like old times?”

She laughs. “No. Let’s keep that a memory.”

“Do you remember how to do this? Here, let me help you.” He holds the sled as she sits on it and places her feet on the steering bar. 

“I’m not sure about this, Joe.”

“Would you feel more comfortable lying down?”

“No, not at all.” She laughs.

It is not a steep hill and there is plenty of room at the bottom with no fear of hitting anything. As she sits ready, contemplating what she is doing, she can hear children on other hills laughing and playing. Determined to do this at least one more time in her life, she looks back at Joe and gives him a thumbs up.

“Okay. I’ll meet you at the bottom.”

No “One, two, three.” No “Are you ready?” Just a soft push and Margaret is on her way. She lets out a squeal and an anxious laugh as the wind burns her eyes. Slowly the sled comes to a stop. Within seconds Joe passes her as his sled slows. 

As he goes by he hears her laughing and clapping for him. He drags his sled back to where she stopped. 

“Whew! Wasn’t that fun?”

Margaret nods. “Yes! It was. Let’s do it again!”

Up they walk to do it again. As they approach the top, there stand the four teens who ran by earlier. 

“Um,” says the one boy, “no disrespect or anything, but how old are you?” 

“We could be your grandparents, son,” Joe told them.

“That was exactly what I was thinking, only there is no way my grandparents would be sledding at their age.”

Margaret smiles. “I sure didn’t think I would be either, but they should try it. It was a little scary going down the first time since it’s been so long, but it was fun so we are doing it again.”

Down they go again and when they go back up the hill the children are still there. 

“How long have you been married?” one of the girls asks.

“Since you asked,” Joe started, “fifty-five years ago I met my lovely wife right here on this hill when a bunch of my friends and I were sledding. Much like today, I could not see anything but her eyes, but in her eyes, I saw a kind, happy girl, and I wanted to know more. We married a year later when she turned eighteen. She’s been the love of my life ever since.”

“Awww. How sweet!” the girls say in unison. 

“That’s cool. I’m going to tell my grandparents they should go sledding.”

As Joe and Margaret watch the teens walk away, one of the boys slides his arm around a girl and looks back at Joe and nods at him. 

“Oh, Joe. Isn’t that so sweet?”

“It sure is. Alright, let’s go down again.”  

They go down again and again until they work up an appetite and decide to call it a day. As they walk home dragging their sleds behind them, Joe takes Margaret’s gloved hand in his. “Let’s make a deal to never grow up. We may grow old, but let’s never grow up.”