She hugged her mother and father and Matthew lifted her several inches into the air when he gave her one of his rib-crunching, manhandling type of hugs, borne of hours lifting weights after school at the gym. "I'm a little bit disappointed," her mother said. She'd been clutching a handkerchief, but hadn't appeared to be using it yet. "Hayley isn't here. She's with her friends, and they're coming straight here! What is that? I wanted to take pictures."
"Yeah, I know mom," Linda said, warmly patting her on her shoulder, feeling sagging, soft skin. "You'd think she was getting married or something, and we're all the groom and we're not supposed to see her until she walks down the aisle."
Molly laughed. She and her mechanic husband Chris had put up Matthew for the trip.
"I say we make a real tailgate party out of it!" Bobby announced. He was wearing a tie, a dress shirt and nice slacks but unlike the other men, wore some type of a windbreaker in the cool morning breeze.
"Hey Bob, did you bring brewskis?" Matthew asked his uncle excitedly.
Linda knew they were kidding but didn't like the conversation anyway. "That's enough."
They all stood on the pavement or sat on folded-down tailgates or car seats, catching up with each other while waiting for the ceremonies to begin. The men all crowded around Matthew, who'd grown three inches since he'd seen either set of grandparents the previous Christmas. They wanted to know what he thought about his chances for playing for a state champion during his senior year.
Mabel, Stephen's mother, approached Linda. She was a kind, silver haired woman with glasses, whose head bobbed when she walked. "Hon, what did you say Hayley majored in?"
Mabel asked.
"Computer gaming and rendering," she replied.
"Computer gaming?" Mabel echoed, squinting behind her glasses, deepening her crow's feet. "You can actually get a degree in that?"
"Oh yes. She's wanted to do that since she was thirteen. When Mr. Wonderful over there went over my head and brought home a new computer for her."
"Well, what type of a job does she hope to get with a degree like that?" Mabel asked, still incredulous.
"Designing and rendering graphics for video games, of course." Linda was proud of the fact that Hayley already had two interviews scheduled with companies in Chicago."
Mabel shook her head. "Whatever happened to nursing, home ec, or elementary school education? The things girls used to study?"