He Say, She Say

I know that at some time in our lives all of us have watched the American classic cartoon Peanuts, which held a main character named Charlie Brown. I was never a Peanuts fan, but I would watch it on holidays with my family when my mother wanted us to gather around and watch The Great Pumpkin, or A Charlie Brown Christmas. I can’t remember much about the show- shoot, I can’t even name any characters other than Charlie Brown, Linus, Lucy and Snoopy, but there will always be a scene in the series that I will never forget. This was a part of the show that made everybody laugh…but Charlie Brown.
The infamous football kick.

We all recognize it, and know when it’s coming.
All you have to do is see Lucy with a football in her hand, and you whisper under your breath…'uh oh.'
For those that don’t remember, the routine went as follows: one day Lucy kneeled down, balanced a football between her hand and the ground, and asked Charlie to come kick it. He thought it sounded fun, so he backed up, ran as fast as he could towards Lucy and the ball, pulled his foot back to kick the ball into oblivion,
-but kicked nothing but air as the force from his foot carried him up in the air and he landed flat on his back.
Some of you may ask- what happened? Did he miss?
NO! Lucy pulled the ball from his reach!
She then would laugh and walk away carrying the ball, and Charlie would look at his audience with an expression of embarrassment, and mutter his infamous words- “Good greif.”
Many of us would feel sorry for Charlie, and hope that he never falls for that trick again, but guess what?
He did.
Time and time again Lucy would balance the ball and invite Charlie to come kick it. At first he would make up excuse after excuse explaining why he refused to fall for her tactics anymore, but Lucy would insist and persuade, making kicking the football sound like heaven…
So Charlie would ignore the past, back up, run towards the ball at top speed, pull his foot back, kick for the ball with all his might…
…fly in the air, and then land on his ass once again.
Many would think that something must be wrong with Charlie…this was way too easy.
Yes, something was very wrong with Charlie- he was determined.
Should we fault him for such?
I could never understand what the hell Charles Schulz was trying to say when he did these sketches...
…until now.
For some time now, I’ve felt like Charlie.
There are women who enter my life, and seem like they can offer me a great opportunity- a chance to kick a football…a chance to fall in love.
Things go great…chemistry starts flowing- or overflowing, depending on who it is…feelings grow…the idea of love looks quite nice to me…
…as nice as kicking a football...
She balances the football between her hand, and the ground- their wants and my wants, and then orders me to back up so I can kick the ball clear out onto the sky.
Kick off a relationship...start up the love..
I back up…smile…fix my determination…then run for my goal.
At some time between me backing up, running towards her, or pulling my leg back, she decides that this is not what she wants.
She doesn’t want me to kick the ball.
She doesn’t want us to work together to kick something off clear into the sky…
So she pulls away, excuse me- pulls the ball from my reach, and I slip up, fly in the air with nothing to hold onto- completely vulnerable, then slam backwards on my ass.
In other words, I get hurt.

“Good grief.”
I remain dizzy for some time, and all I can hear is her snickering behind me, wondering how I could be such a fool.
She then goes on with her life, holding the football in her hands, leaving me with nothing but pain to endure.
No matter how close I got, what I wanted was always pulled from my reach before I even got the chance to connect with it.
Me, being a Charlie, brush myself off and move on with my life in time…and then Lucy returns.
A few moments later, I’m laying on the ground again muttering “good grief.”
No more.
As of right now, I’m saying screw the football- I don’t need it.
I can live without kicking a football- I don’t even like sports.
I’m learning from Charlie’s mistakes.
Charlie Brown NEVER got a chance to kick the ball- all the way until the end of the series, though his attempts were numerous.
I’m switching character and focusing on what I love most, kinda like Linus.
Fall back, Sally.

Peace & Blessings
Lucius McCall