Crooked Smile Lainie Cohen, ECW Press (page 5 of 5) Page 5 of 5

Some days I wondered if he would end up as a physical education teacher, or perhaps a sports psychologist. He really liked kids, and enjoyed working with them at camp as a water ski instructor. He had also taught swimming, but preferred his part-time job in a restaurant where he could work longer hours, earning more money to support the used car we had bought him.

Jonathan, only fourteen, wanted so much to be like his older brother. He had even started to grow his hair long, so he could have a ponytail too. In winter, Jonathan played competitive hockey, although playing defence and not forward meant he didn’t score as many goals as Daniel did. In summer, he went to the same camp where Daniel, as ski staff, was treated with such respect. But Jonathan showed no interest in water skiing.

“If you don’t want water skiing, then you’d better become a tripper,” Daniel advised. “Being a regular counsellor sucks.”

So Jonathan reluctantly went out on a canoe trip and found to his surprise that he liked it. After that, he signed up for another trip. And then another. Jonathan was like that. Slow to get started and then — wham. By the end of the summer, he had won the award for the most trip days of any camper out of camp.

At school he had shown the same pattern. In his early elementary years, Jonathan had some difficulty learning to read and write, but when he completed grade eight he was one of the top three students in his school. And popular too. Just like his older brother and sister.

Things were almost too good to be true. I remember feeling grateful and cherishing each moment of those golden days Joel and I spent in France. There was no reason then to expect that our lives would be different from what we imagined. We would eventually live and travel as empty nesters, our children grown and self-sufficient, coming back to visit with noisy grandchildren. The future looked bright indeed.

Then came August 29.

From Crooked Smile by Lainie Cohen, published by ECW Press, LLC. Copyright © 2003 by Lainie Cohen. All rights reserved. www.ecwpress.com. For more information about author Lainie Cohen, go to www.crookedsmile.org.

 Comments

There are currently no comments for this article