More Than A Wicket

By: Ryan Hyde

I swing my arms back, then forward as the mallet collides with the ball. As I watch it zip through the grass, I pray it makes it through the wicket. Of course, much to my dismay once again I miss the wicket by a couple of inches. My grandpa goes after my and sure enough, he makes it through the wicket passing me. I longingly looked over my right shoulder to the waves crashing onto the shore. I wanted nothing more than to run down to the end of the dock and just jump in the water.

However, that was not the plan right now, instead I was to play croquet in the backyard with my grandparents because my mom decided the lake was to rough to go in. But she didn't get it. We were only up there for a week so I absolutely had to spend every moment possible out on the water. Why should I have to play croquet? I'm not even that good! You know when you're with your family and you have to do something because your mom says so even though it may be super boring or just not what you want to do? Yeah, this was one of those moments.

As each person took their turn I was thinking about all of the things I would be doing out on the lake if I could get out of this. I wasn't old enough to take the jet ski out alone or the boat, so it looked like I would be white water rafting in my kayak. Okay, now all I had to do was get out of croquet, but before I could think much further than that, it was my turn again. I aimlessly swung the mallet again sending the ball towards the wicket, but to my surprise it actually went through! With that I got to take another turn, but this shot was nowhere near the next wicket.

My mind immediately trailed back to the lake. If only I could think of a good enough excuse to get out of this game - that is until I heard my sister yell, "Oh come on!" Turns out my grandpa caught up to her ball and whacked it into the trees on the other side of the driveway. I immediately burst into laughter. I didn't know you could do that in croquet. In that moment, this game no longer seemed so boring, it was actually getting exciting...and fun.

But it was bigger than just the game, even though I didn't understand it fully back then. It was much bigger than simply playing croquet to my grandpa, it was time he could spend with my sister and I. Even though he was in his late 60's, he still worked part-time at a store downtown, meaning he wasn't home a lot during the day. I came to cherish those croquet games after dinner. It quickly became a sort of daily tradition for us.

The relationships we form with people are what make our lives what they are. My relationship with my grandpa I believe was strengthened by these daily croquet games. It was our thing that we did together. It is important to spend time with family and friends, and it doesn't matter how the time is spent, whether it's playing croquet or cards or even just sitting on the couch talking. Every moment is precious, and life after-all is meaningless if you don't cherish those in it.