They Grow Up So Fast
As I’ve mentioned several times, I’ve become really good friends with my former coworker Clo. Despite a minor setback in our friendship in 2022, we have a very strong friendship now. I love my “sisters” and my other friends, but Clo… Clo is what I would be like if I was born a woman. I mean, she’s autistic, and we are the same kind of autistic; she thinks the same way as me. All this to say, our friendship is effortless because we can both kinda just be.
In the nearly four years that I’ve known her, Clo and I have never gone out to celebrate her birthday. Her 27th birthday was Thursday, January 16th, and Paige and I were going to go out with her that Sunday, but Clo had to cancel at the last second. On Friday, January 31st, 2025, Clo texted us and asked if we wanted to go out that night.
We picked Clo up at 7:40 and drove to a restaurant nearby. While waiting for our appetizers, Clo pulled two tiny ceramic sheep and a ceramic head of lettuce about the same size out of her purse. I took one sheep, and she took the other. Then, we simulated them playing soccer with the lettuce. As Clo and I got more into it, Paige began to laugh. I turned to her and said, “You know this is what it’s going to be like when we have kids, right?” She laughed and rolled her eyes.
Pins is a bar/duckpin bowling alley that started in Columbus. My dad has done all of their hand-painted graphics. At the original location, Pins has the world's largest ping-pong paddle, which Dad built. The original location was right by the restaurant, so we went over there after we ate.
Now, when we were initially planning to hang out with Clo, Paige and I were going to get her something for her birthday before that Sunday. But because she had canceled, and the actual hangout was so impromptu, we never got around to it. Luckily, I had some leftover cash from Christmas.
After hanging out on the Pins patio for about an hour, Clo said she wanted to play on the pinball machines. We went inside, and she started using her quarters. When I saw she was almost out, I ran to a machine and got about $10 worth of quarters. When Clo ran out of quarters and saw Paige and I holding the ones I just got, she practically de-aged 20 years, looked up at us, said, “Thank you,” grabbed the quarters, and scampered off to continue playing.
“They grow up so fast,” Paige said in mock sadness. I put my arm around her waist, and we both looked at Clo nostalgically. Then, we busted out laughing.
Have a Greattastic day, and be safe
J. Mitchie Ulibarri
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