My little brother has a lot on his mind these days. Therefore I thought I’d give him a morale boost with our favorite game. Normally I like to show off my athletic prowess, by outrunning Asa to retrieve the ball, over and over and over again. In the past, Mom would occasionally have to hold me back to let Asa have a head start at fetching it. However, lately I’ve been holding myself back.

After a round or two, I will sit next to Mom and watch as Asa takes off after the ball. No prompting by Mom, I’ll just take a break on my own to watch. Sometimes Asa catches it in midair. Sometimes his perspective is off, or the goggles get in the way, and he has to run after the ball. Other times he will miss it completely on his blindside, and need to search. All the while I’ll patiently sit next to Mom cheering him on to victory!

Alright, sometimes when Asa misses the ball it takes him awhile to find it. I usually let Asa try to sniff out the bacon scent of the ball, or search for its bright orange color in the grass. But sometimes he gets frustrated, and can’t find it. When that happens I will trot over to get the ball, and will bring it back to Mom so we can resume playing. I try not to make a fuss, and Asa will happily run along next to me grateful to get the game going again. To which after a few more rounds for me, I’ll let him take over again.

Do I want to show off my superior fetch skills? Of course! But Asa and I are a team. For years he has cheered me on while playing, it is about time I return the favor.

Alright, I admit I still like to show off.

Asa: Wait? You let me win? I was letting you win those other times!