Bainbridge High School Mens Basketball Senior Night.

James
never played very much and my dad credited that to his lack of a jump
shot. Yet he scrapped enough and was willing to do enough dirty
work to find a spot on the varsity team. This was his night. His one
and only start of his varsity basketball career. Bainbridge has a
tradition on senior night. The seniors run onto the court as they are
introduced over the loud speaker holding flowers for their moms and
trying to look tough for their dads.
6 4 forward, James Coatsworth, the loud speaker boomed and
the crowd cheered.
Here for James tonight are his mother, Debbie and standing in
for his father, his brother Andrew.
I felt a lump in my throat as James and I pulled in for one of those
cool high fives where you lock hands and slap each others backs. Why
did my dad have to be in Hawaii for this? Why did grandpa have to
have a stroke? Why us?

August, the time for our annual family vacation to Bandon. We

always set an ideal departure time of about 9:00 AM. Something
always prevents this. My dad forgetting to turn the overhead light in
the car off thus draining the battery. My mom realizing that she forgot
to pack something, usually a lot of somethings. This year was
different. 9:00 AM: we were pulling out of the driveway. The boat

loaded with suitcases, golf clubs, the electric smoker (my dad has
become known for his smoked salmon) trailed behind the Suburban,
Madison in the way back, James in lounging in the back bench seat, me
in the captains chair and my parents up front. As we pulled on to Day
Road, about 30 seconds from our driveway, my dad pulled to the side
of the road to answer his phone.
Hey mom, he answered.
Silence.
Mom, hes having another stroke.
Silent panic.
Can I talk to him? Does he know what day it is? Is he making
any sense?
What a great start to a vacation.

It doesnt normally snow on Bainbridge. There were a few

snowstorms growing up but most of the time snow found a way to skip
Bainbridge. I know there is probably a scientific explanation for this
but I never cared to find out. When I heard the forecast for that day, I
shrugged it off. Poulsbo and Bremerton, maybe even Seattle would get
a few inches, but no chance that Bainbridge would see any. Then I got
to second period, then I saw flakes falling from the sky through the
window, then the powder started to accumulate on the ground. They
have to call off school, dont they? I thought to myself.

When fifth period rolled around, there was a good six inches of
snow on the ground. Still trapped in class, I felt my phone buzz. My
texted me, Yo bud, Im gonna be getting off of the ferry soon with
James and Ill give you a ride to your car.
After the final bell I headed off to meet my dad. I saw the
Suburban, James lifelessly reclined in the front passenger seat wrapped
in his puffy red North Face jacket. He had just finished a round of
infusions to treat the Guillain Barr. As I got into the car my dad
quietly said, Hey bud.
I didnt now what to do, should I acknowledge James? Sitting in
the back seat, I silently waited for my dads tutorial on driving in the
snow. He touched on the basics: if you start sliding when braking, let
off the break and reapply, accelerate smoothly, try not to fight with the
wheel too much, etc. etc.
When we arrived at my snow-covered car, I quickly fired it up to
start the defrosting process.
Ill drive behind you so nobody will rear end you, my dad
mentioned trying to calm my nerves.
I rushed the thawing process, James needed to get home and I
wouldnt be the one to hold him up. As I backed out of the parking lot,
I thought to myself, this isnt so bad. The tires were a little bit
crunchy but everything else felt the same. Then I pulled up to the stop

sign. My brakes locked. What do I do, what do I do? Oh yeah, let off
and then step back on. I narrowly avoided t-boning a school bus.
We finally made it home after sitting in traffic for an excruciating
two hours. I love snow but people on Bainbridge arent very good with
driving in it. My dad helped James to his room. He slept for about 15
hours.

I only applied to instate colleges. Actually, I also applied to the

University of Oregon, a complete safeguard, as I had absolutely no
intention of being a Duck. The acceptance letters started flowing in
but the only one I really cared about was the big gold envelope. When
it finally came, I found out that I had also been accepted to the
University of Washingtion Honors Program. The next time I saw James,
he greeted me with, Congrats on the honors program, Dawg. Ive
been bragging about you for the last week! You know its more
selective than Stanford? I stood there shocked and speechless.
Maybe James wasnt such a bad guy after all. I still have no idea if the
thing about Stanford is true.

Everything moved fast after we put Madison to sleep. I wanted

another dog and my parents, although hesitant at first, quickly joined
my side.

Im not sure if I can deal with this again, my mom said to my

dad, holding back tears.
You cant think about that now. You have to think of all the good
times ahead, my dad reasoned.
I found a breeder in North Seattle, Himoon Labradors. My mom,
very skeptical at first since I found the breeder online, made a phone
call the next day. Her fears were put to rest and the breeder had a new
litter of puppies that would be ready to go home just after
Thanksgiving.
James, already living in Seattle, couldnt resist but to visit the
breeder with a few of his fraternity brothers. He sent pictures and with
that, my mom decided that we should all go see the puppies.
When the day finally came, my dad, mom and I picked James up
at UW and headed north. The trip felt like it took forever. We finally
arrived at a small town house in Lake Forest Park and were greeted by
a massive male yellow lab, the father of the current litter of puppies.
Inside of the garage we found a boxed out area filled with 12 fur balls.
My mom dubbed them butter pigs. I had forgotten about the slightly
burnt coffee smell of puppy breath and the needle sharp fangs. It all
came back when I held one of the tiny dogs. As we were getting ready
to leave, the dog in James arms fell asleep, almost as if to say, take
me home with you. About a month later Sage joined the family.

I pulled my phone out of my pocket and saw the text from James:
I just finished my final, dont take off yet. In our fraternity there is a
tradition that the freshman class to drive to California for Spring break.
I stood outside of my car, completely filled with suitcases, snacks and
four of my buddies. They sat impatiently, anxious to head south, while
I waited for James. He was about to take off for Europe for his study
abroad program. Neither one of us has ever mastered the hello or
goodbye. When he crossed 45th, we gave each other the classic head
nod, I saw him and he saw me, very little emotion involved. James
grinned when he saw the back loaded car, the trunk sat much lower
than normal.
Man, I wish I were going on the road trip again, he said.
I shrugged, it couldnt be that fun could it?
Be smart and have fun. Dont do anything I wouldnt do.
Yeah, have a good time in Italy. We should FaceTime sometime
or something and grab a few American beers when you get back.
We shared a brief man hug and we were both on our separate
ways.