Today I had a 'procedure' for my eternally aching back. It involved big long needles and lots of discomfort for about four hours of relief,which proved my eligibility for a second procedure which will be two hours of agony for partial relief. Anyway... that's totally not the point.

After the procedure, the doctor had me walk around to check for pain. No pain (which is a friggin miracle).

"Okay, Doc, what happens now?" I asked.

"You'll be pain free for four hours. Go do things that cause you the most pain so we know it works."

Which means it was time to go to the mall with Lorie and her mother.

We went to the mall, Katie and Ashton in tow, and walked around for about ninety minutes. A personal record for me lately. We were in JCPenney when we found 'him'. A stuffed Spider-Man that was half as big as Ashton. Ashton fell in love, I said no. Lorie said 'For his new room re-decoration?' I said no. Grammy said yes, and carried the vote with her pocketbook. Spider-Man was Ashton's.

On the way home from the mall, Ashton turned to Grammy and laid this line on her. "You know Grammy, Peter Parker is inside of this costume."

I'm so proud of my boy.

We got home, tried a couple of poses, decided on one, and attached Spider-Man to the ceiling. Ashton was dubious about losing a possible toy to simple wall decoration, until I explained it was a 'Daddy Display' only in Ashton's room. Then he was thumbs up all the way.

DCD

Copyright 2003 David Charles Dill Jr.