I mentioned that my job took the family and me out to the desert east of Palm Springs. At the time, I still had unfinished business in the L.A. basin, requiring periodic day-trips back. During this same time, we had a problem regarding our oldest son’s orthodontia. He had started with an orthodontist in Manhattan Beach, just north of our then home in Palos Verdes. It was covered by dental insurance but, because he had spent so much time dealing with the problem, the orthodontist had billed the maximum amount to the insurance company. This meant that he was, effectively, making all of the final adjustments and examinations for free. To see a new orthodontist near our new home would mean paying a substantial start-over fee and an additional fee for each additional visit, none of which would be covered by insurance.
I did the math.
It was far more cost effective to put our son on a plane to LAX, where his grandmother would pick him up, take him to the dentist, and then put him back on the plane for home. For him it was an adventure. For her it was a chance to see her grandson and do grandmotherly things.
Once, I had business in L.A. on the day he had his appointment. We decided to fly in together and make a day of it. I would sit through his dental appointment and he would sit through my meeting with the Century City attorney. We might even grab a burger or something if his teeth didn’t hurt.
We finished our business and went back to the offsite car rental place to turn in our car. On the trip back to the airport we were the only passengers on the courtesy bus. We sat up front, next to the sweet, twenty-something driver.
She looked at my son and, trying to be conversational, said, “Hey, why aren’t you in school today?”
He looked over at me and then back to her. “I don’t go to school.”
“What do you mean you don’t go to school?”
“Just that. I don’t go to school. I just travel everywhere with my father.”
“Wow! Can you really do that? I mean, don’t they make you go to school?”
Turning to me, he said, “Tell her dad.”
“Well,” I said, “have you ever seen pictures of the Eiffel Tower or Big Ben?”
“Yeah, I guess so.”
“Well he’s actually seen them in person.” (This was true, but not for the reasons mentioned to her.) “We just travel all over the world and I teach him whatever he needs to know. When we have a history lesson about some place, we just go there and look at it.”
“Wow!” (Maybe her favorite word?) “That’s just too cool!”
She stopped at the American Airlines terminal to let us out. As we stepped out of the bus doors, I turned to him and said, “Well, where do you want to go today?”
He glanced at her and said, “I haven’t seen Detroit. Let’s go there.”
As we entered the terminal he looked back at her, still sitting at the curb, and said, “That oughta give her something to tell her friends.”
