playing balls at grandpa's work

Our family trips to Kentucky always fly by.  It always seems like we run around everywhere,  trying to see everyone,  and go home regretting not seeing everyone we wanted to see and still be exhausted.

Well, once we got to our first stop to Kentucky,  I was already exhausted.  It felt like all of December was like a trip to Kentucky.  Trying to get everything done.  Trying to see everyone.  Trying to make "Christmas" what it should be.

So we got there and I asked Zander what he wanted to do (not that he really makes the decisions,  I was just curious).  I said,  "What do you want to do today?"  

He answered,  "I want to stay here with Grandma and Grandpa and I want to go play balls at Grandpa's work."

And I said,  "Okay,  That sounds great."

I was glad to have an excuse and take a break to relax......with nowhere to go.  (Matt took the kids to the pool hall to see my Dad at work).

Which makes me think about growing up with my dad owning the pool hall.  Being the daughter of the pool hall owner in town was such a cool title to have as a kid.  The City Pool Hall has the best hamburgers ever ( I love to brag about people coming from California to have a taste).  The City Pool Hall has been featured in state regional photo exhibits and papers.  So,  I had a lot to brag about.  I remember in Kindergarten, bragging to my teacher that my Dad now owned the pool hall and she argued with me about it (because he had just become the part-owner).  I was furious that my own teacher didn't believe that my Dad owned the Pool Hall.

Even with the coolness of it.....there were some things that weren't that cool, however.  Being a girl,  I couldn't play pool there.  I remember going to college and telling people my Dad owned our local pool hall....they would be so impressed.  "You must be a pool shark, "they'd say.  Usually I would smile and say, "Yeah."  But there were times I got in trouble for that.  Like a time a guy I really liked took me somewhere to play pool.

Because I had never played pool in my life.

Coming from a small town in Kentucky,  girls playing in the pool hall, at that time,  was simply not acceptable.  I remember complaining to my Dad and he would say,  "I'm sure girls can play pool too but I just can't do that because a lot of my customers wouldn't play."

It was just the way it was.  I didn't love the way it was,  and told my Dad,  but that was just how it was.  My Dad always taught me that I could do anything I wanted to do no matter what.

The cool thing about my Dad was he never made Me feel inferior......he just explained that was how he ran the business because that was the tradition in our small town.  And now,  that I'm older,  I understand completely.

The even more cool thing about my Dad is this.....He lets my kids run wild through the pool hall.  I'm sure you'll see from the pictures that Kaya pretty much does what she wants.  He not only lets my kids play pool, he lets them stand on the tables and roll or throw the balls around. We asked the kids what they wanted to do when the grew up and worked at the pool hall.   Zander said ,"I'll cook the cheeseburgers and Kaya can be the boss."  I'm sure that is how it would be.

So,  I'm not worried at all about Kaya having a grandpa who owns a pool hall and not learning to play pool (it is a wonder what grandkids do to a person).  I'm pretty sure Grandpa will let this little girl do whatever she wants...