You Are What You See

Stud muffin, an absolute stud muffin. George admires himself in the mirror. His big powerful arms, broad and defined. His tall bulky body that resembles his father’s. His long thick beard that hugs his chiseled jawline. He flexes his arms, causing his biceps to pop out further, and then turns his body to see his backside. Pleased with himself, he straightens his hat and descends the stairs of his huge three-story house.

At the bottom, he is greeted by Amelia.

“Good morning, beautiful.” 

“Good morning daddy.” 

He lifts the little girl gleefully into the air, spinning around causing her to scream in delight. With a kiss to the top of her head, he lowers back to the floor. He watches blissfully as she waddles away. 

George continues to the kitchen to greet his son and wife. Jr. is at the kitchen table enjoying a smorgasbord breakfast. He joins in, quickly devouring his favorites, pancakes, eggs, bacon, and sausage. He savors a cup of coffee and fills a travel cup for later.

Sitting back in his chair satisfied, he admires his wife. Her beautiful blond hair that’s just like his mother’s, sharp blue eyes that can see a person’s soul. She is always attentive to his needs and nurturing to the children. How lucky he is to have such a beautiful family, how blessed to have such a lavish home. 

With longing in his heart, he kisses each one goodbye. A man’s gotta do what a man's gotta do. That’s what his daddy always tells him, and a man has to provide for his family. He grabs the lunch his wife prepared earlier that morning and heads to work.

He is a third generation truck driver and proud of it. A man can learn a lot about himself when he’s all alone on the road, his daddy always said. When the only company you have is yourself, you have plenty of time to take a good long look at yourself. Some men can handle it, some can’t. 

Excitement bubbles inside of him as he steps up inside the big rig. He slides into the captain's seat and places his lunch pail on the passenger side. He grips the steering wheel with both hands and bounces on the seat. With a turn of a key and shift of a gear, away he goes down the road to the delivery point.

This time he is carrying a whole truckload of LEGOs to the local orphanage. Each set a perfect little gift for a sad, lonely child in need of a little joy. He pulls up to the large brick building and aligns his truck up to the base of the crane. He climbs down from the semi truck and up into the derrick deck.

 With ease he maneuvers the crane to pick up the packages one by one and stacks them in front of the waiting children as they cheer him along. When he is finished, each one grabs a box and rushes back inside. George chuckles at the thought of by morning time the walls will be bursting with LEGO creations and smiling faces. With a wave goodbye to the few children that remain, he climbs back into his truck and starts onto the road once again.His next stop is along a river front to enjoy the lunch his lovely wife made for him. While eating, he calls home to his family.

“Hello dear, how is your day going?” 

“My day is going great Georgie, how is your day?” 

“Another wonderful day of delivering toys to needy children. Next, I will be taking a load of vegetables to the supermarket.”

“ How exciting!”

“ How are the children?”

“ They are well, missing you, of course.”

“ Yes of course. As always, I will be home for dinner. Can you make my favorite tonight, please?”

“ Meat loaf for dinner, it will be. Don’t forget we are going to the beach this weekend, the whole family.” 

“ How could I forget? I’ve been looking forward to it for weeks! I have to go now, dear. I will see you shortly.”

George hangs up the phone as he takes the last bite of his peanut butter and jelly sandwich. He types in his destination into his navigation and pulls back onto the road. One load of veggies to the supermarket and his day is done. While on his way home, he stops to treat himself with a chocolate milkshake after a hard day’s work. 

The weekend rolls around and he spends the day at the beach with his family. Little Amilia pitter patters around playing in the sand, making castles while Jr. splashes in the waves. Darlene and George sit on the beach blanket, wrapped up in each other’s arms. 

He loves little moments like these, when the kids are smiling and so is his lovely wife. He blinks and he’s back at home, the day drawing to an end. With a kiss goodnight and a long bed-time story, each child is tucked into their beds for the night. He silently closes the door behind him and exits their rooms.

The next morning, he rises early to plan for the day. Today he is going skydiving for the first time ever! He grabs a quick cup of coffee and a piece of toast and he heads out the door. His belly rumbles for something more, but food and skydiving rarely go well together. He jumps into his jeep wrangler and drives to the airport some thirty miles away. Next, he climbs aboard a twin-engine plane and is greeted by the pilot.

“ Hi, my name is Max. I will be your instructor today. First, let’s get your parachute on you.”

George steps forward as Max places the heavy book bag on his back and connects the straps around his legs and mid section. “Once you jump, count to 20 and pull this cord. Counting ensures you are far enough away from the engines that it won’t suck you in. If that happens it will be certain death. If you wait too long to pull the cord, you will probably die on impact. If that parachute fails, you have a backup right here.” Max pointed to a little orange rope tethered to the shoulder strap.

 “When landing, do a parachute landing fall, touch down on the balls of your feet, then shift your weight to your calves, outer thighs, and back." Max demonstrates as he speaks. " "This maneuver helps absorb impact. Or you can tuck and roll, but I’ve seen attempts at that maneuver not go so well for beginners. Instead of rolling, they just kind of stick to the ground. Avoid looking directly down at the ground, as this will cause it to appear as if it is speeding toward you quicker than it really is. Look at about 45 degrees up from the ground and it will be a smoother ride. Are you ready?”

George shakes his head yes and throws himself out of the plane. Butterflies swirl in his stomach as he glides through the air. One alligator, two alligator, three alligator. He counts all the way to 20 and then counts a couple more just to be sure he didn't rush. He pulls the cord on his parachute. The air catches it as it unravels and tugs him upward just for a moment. 

A bird's-eye view awestruck George as he soaks in the scenery. Everything looks so small and unrecognizable. His jeep is all but a little yellow speck on the ground. The rows of corn fields he passed on the way here appear to be blades of grass. The roadway looks like a tiny thin line drawn on the landscape.

 Locking his eyes at roughly 45 degrees George repeats Max’s instructions in his head and prepares for landing. The balls of his feet touch down and he shifts his weight to spread out the impact. Just like he had seen in the movies, he lands gracefully and guides his parachute to the ground behind him. 

“Earth to Georgie, Earth to Georgie, come in Georgie, it’s time to leave the imagination station and come for lunch.” George’s mother says.

“ Aww man.” George replies as he climbs out of the cardboard box. He follows her to this kitchen and sits down at the table to enjoy his favorite lunch, peanut butter and jelly sandwich.

“ Where did you travel to today?” 

“ I was skydiving in Ohio.”

“ Ohio, wow, how fascinating. I think I would be too scared to sky dive. What was it like?”

“ It’s a piece of cake.” George repeats the instructions Max gave him.” It really was exhilarating.” 

She smiles at the little 8-year-old before her and marvels at his creativity. He has managed to travel the whole world without ever leaving the living room. She loves hearing about his little adventures and listens earnestly. One day all too soon, the conversations won't be so child-like.