When I was a kid growing up in London, my friends and I used to do a little ritual on the first of the month. "Pinch punch, first day of the month, no return." The goal was to - yes, you got it - pinch and punch someone (gently) on the first of the month. By saying "no return", we confirmed that the recipient of the pinch punch could not retaliate.
I continued this fun (and yes, I know, lame) tradition with my children. The one who enjoyed it the most was AMM. It was his mission to get all of us before we got to him. He would start anticipating it a couple of days beforehand. He was very proud that he had gotten me twelve months in a row (one of his bragging points).
The last few months of his life the first of the month had been tough, for QMM had gotten him first! And being bigger, QMM's pinches and punches were harder. How upset AMM was!
But it was so much fun for AMM and I. He would try to get me while evading my movements to get him, and I would try to evade him while he was trying to get me. He usually won.
Since the boys have left, I have been in a kind of haze, trying to get from one moment to the next without having a total breakdown. As a result, I did not even realize when the first of April, May, June came and went without our silly ritual. But July 1st I did remember. And my heart broke all over again. My pinch punch partner is gone. No more "pinch punch, first day of the month, no return". No more laughter. No more private jokes. No more of that unique bond AMM and I shared. No more.
