Dad and I decide to take Tami into the Banks Family Mausoleum. She looks around at all the pictures on the wall. Tambara: Pop-Pop, who are all these people? Kai: These are your people—your great and great-great-grandparents. Tambara: Great, like superheroes? Kai: *smiles* They were, in my opinion. But, they…
Posts published in “Banks Dynasty”
Hiro has me up and out of the house first thing in the morning, just as the first of many snow flurries falls. Stepping one foot out the door into the bone-chilling mountain air is enough to remind me how much I hate the snow. Meanwhile, back at the house……
Xavier joins us as we return to the rental, which seems to have put an extra spark of joy on Maia’s face. I guess it’s her way of making up for Clyde’s absence. Either way, she’s smiling, and I love to see it. While she gets started on dinner, I…
Maia agrees and we arrive in the New Appaloosa neighborhood to see a few horse competitions. But regret slaps me in the face as soon as I approach the doors of the Equestrian Center, as the scent of moist hay mixed with horse manure snatches me back to my days…
It’s the morning of Winterfest, and I wake up to see Maia slumped over and sitting on the side of the bed. My first instinct is to ask her how she’s doing, but the answer is in her body language. She’s still trying to hold it together, and there’s not…
Trying to avoid bogging Dub and his family with too much bad news at one time, I decided not to mention that we also lost the youngest of the Brown Triplets, Jamelia Serrano (ATC Part 13 – Banks Day 46.4). But I still wanted to honor and remember her here. Jamelia was…
Clyde Tilley (Frog Scenario: Part 7 – Day 46.4) played his role as Dub’s adversary perfectly (he was one of my favorite characters and basically wrote himself). He often came across as critical and harsh, but his entire goal in life was to keep Maia safe and shield her from…
I’m sitting in my office, staring at the blank computer screen, thinking about everything Maia said. Her words, “I don’t think we will make it…” cause my insides to soften into jelly. I really messed up this time, and my words and declarations of love weren’t enough to fix it.…
My phone rings as I’m standing there, thinking how wrong I was about everything. It’s Luca. Of course, it is—calling right when I feel like the biggest a-hole. We catch up for a while as he asks how things are going. I tell him about Clyde moving in next door…
I’m up early the following day for a morning jog without Hiro for the first time. As much as I’d love to take him, I realize he’s getting older and can no longer keep up the pace. But it’s probably best because I’m not just out here jogging aimlessly today—I…