This time of year often produces busy weekends, but a couple weeks ago, we had a doozy. And we have the pictures to prove it.
The fun started first thing in the morning on Saturday, with an 8:00 soccer game. It was a very successful season for William’s team, the Neon Lightnings, but because schedule conflicts prevented them from entering the end-of-season tournament, this was the last game for this group of kids. William played hard all season, and seems to getting a handle on what he’s supposed to be doing out on the pitch. All that work seemed to be culminating in a clear shot on goal toward the end of the first half—the closest by far he’s come to scoring a goal in a game ever—and he just missed when he tried to kick the ball.
True to form, William was undaunted and kept his spirits up (it helped that his team was winning in a romp). I thought that was likely to be his only chance, as he doesn’t usually get opportunities to shoot, so no one was more surprised than me when, late in the second half, he found himself with the ball in front of the goal once again. This time, he nailed the shot and scored, marking the first goal scored by a Wong kid since fall 2012.
As evidenced by the sheer number of pictures from the game, I had my camera with me. And I was standing near the corner of the field, very close to the goal. But I was too entranced by the unfolding action to even think about taking a photo. As I walked, shocked and elated, back to my seat on the sideline, Will’s friend Kai’s mother asked whether I got the shot, and I just shook my head ruefully. Maybe next time.
After the game, the boys posed together for a quick team photo, and then it was off the next event of the weekend: the 2022 Booksin Walkathon.
This was the first somewhat normal Walkathon in several years. The 2020 walk was canceled due to Covid, and though kids were back on campus in 2021, BESCA and the school weren’t excited about the prospect of having a couple thousand people converge on the school grounds for an all-day event. Instead, they did a smaller, in-school Walkathon with just the students in the spring. Because it had been so long, there was a great deal of anticipation for the return of Walkathon as it had been.
Thanks to the soccer game, we arrived a bit more than hour after the start of the race, and in a change from previous years, kids in sports didn’t get mileage credit for their time away from the school. William was largely unconcerned, however, as he’d asked his friend Kai—who isn’t a Booksin student—to join him for the day. The two of them walked enough to get the first tier of prizes and to earn a cool drink, but they spent most of their time deep in conversation or playing on the playground.
William’s day got even better when he ran into his good friend Kaila, whom he’s known since TK. Kaila left Booksin last year for another school, but she and her family live kitty-corner from the campus and decided to join in the fun. William was ecstatic to see her in person for the first time in ages, and he, Kai, and Kaila spent a long time playing keep-away with another of Kaila’s friends.
After Walkathon, we had a few minutes to rest before Julie had to leave for her flight to Omaha: she was picking up her mother for her move out to California. The flight departed from SFO, as there are no reasonable non-stops from San José to Omaha, which meant a forty-five minute drive each way. By the time I got home, I was thoroughly exhausted; I don’t even remember what happened the rest of the evening.
The weekend wasn’t over yet, however. On Sunday, we were invited to a Navy Change in Command Ceremony, in which command of a naval facility is formally handed over from one Navy officer to another. In this case, the departing commander was the father of William’s very good friend, Bentley; after eighteen months in San José, he was being transferred to a new position in Texas. We were flattered to be invited to the small ceremony, and it gave us an opportunity to dress up, which William always enjoys.
After the ceremony, we stayed for lunch and cake, which the officers’ families cut with a sword—Bentley’s eyes positively lit up when he had chance to hold it. Then Bentley and his family were off to begin their new adventure, starting with a trip to Disneyland, while William and I headed home for some long-overdue rest.
Occasional Dispatches from San Jose 