(Excerpt from a new book I am working on.....Thru the Years....A humorous look at growing up)

What a fitting way to end the summer….

Every year….

The whole Hutchinson clan

Gathers for the end of the summer party

At the shore…

It is always scheduled for

The Sunday night… before Labor Day….

One year…all the cousins decided to add a twist….

We are going to have the First Annual Hutchinson Olympics

There were 4 teams…

There were 6 members on each team...

We had the:

Italians

Ireland

USA

And

Jamaica (formerly known as Afghanistan)

There were 4 events:

Wheel Barrel race – Guess whose team won… Ah hem!!!!!!!

Relay Race – Guess whose team won… Double Ah hem!!!!

Just clearing my throat……Sorry…

Dizzy Bat – That event threw me for a loop…

Everyone was looking forward to seeing me doing dizzy bat…

And that year…I did not let them down…

My daughter Elizabeth was really good at this…

She must have learned how to spot while spinning

In all her dancing lessons…

I never had dance lessons…

You had to run about 20 yards…

Pick up a bat and spin around

With your head on the bat 7 times…

Now…It was my turn…

I ran down…picked up the bat...

Started spinning and...

Everything was a blur….

I spotted my team…

And instead of heading north…

I started veering north by northwest

Tripping over myself

Next thing …

I find myself stumbling up

the side of the sand dunes…

All the time I am hearing

Uncle George…over here…

Dad!!!…Where’s he going…

But I was not going anywhere … but over there…

I felt like there was a magnet pulling me toward the dunes…

They were all laughing

Needless to say…

I didn’t help our team in this event…

We finished third…

The final event was a tug of war…

The teams seemed evenly matched…

Next thing…We’re pulling and yanking…

I began wondering if….This event would never end…

I was 59…At the time….

I no longer had the strength and stamina for this type of event…

Good thing…

We had a couple of strong young members on our team…

Yes, we did win this event also…

Who would think there would be so much competition…

In a family Olympic setting…

Near the end of the events…They already started crowing at each other….

Talking about doing it again the following year...

Well….We’ll see…

Maybe…

I think I should look at…

Possibly taking dance lessons…

Everyday is a Gift...