“What a weekend. I miss it already.”
This was what Beckett, 15, said Monday morning. Considering he didn’t get home until midnight from the last day of the Oceans Calling Festival, I figured he would be exhausted for school on Monday. It was quite the opposite, as he seemed to still be excited about the weekend festivities.
The exhaustion seemed to set in over the following days. I would also surmise there was a bit of despair, too, as he realized the event was over and that sort of social happening was a year away again. On Monday, Beckett sent his mom and me a variety of pictures he took from the weekend. It was clear he and his friends had the time of their lives. He even said Sunday, “was the best day of his life.” I am so glad he got to experience this sort of spectacle and enjoyed all that it offered.
My lasting impression and memory from the first Oceans Calling Festival will be the impact it had on the local teens who were blessed to experience the festival in their hometown and in an area – the Boardwalk and beach — most of them know so well. It’s a special thing to have an event with world-class music in a familiar and comfortable place. As adults, we understand how incredible the event was for so many. As teens, they just want to know where the next festival is and when they can go again.
Growing up around here in the late-80s and early-90s, many of us local Gen-Xers have fond memories of Reggae Sunsplash concerts in the summer months. It was an opportunity to converge on the convention center with friends and enjoy sounds of the summer. We would meet up before and after and it was a locals reunion of sorts. I can recall my employer during the summer months complaining how none of the local kids could work on Reggae Sunsplash night.
It’s exciting to think our kids will have Oceans Calling memories as part of their teen years to take with them through their lives. I look back with fondness at those Reggae Sunsplash nights, but it’s incredible to think our kids will have Oceans Calling as their first major live music memories.
On Sunday, Beckett rode the front rail area of the Sea Bright stage for about nine hours and fell in love with the musicians. Songs from these acts are now filling his room nightly.
What is equally special is the newfound pride in their hometown seen by him and many other teens. He told stories of meeting people who had never been to Ocean City and how they told him and his friends how fortunate they were to live here. There were countless stories to share of the various experiences from the weekend. This is special. He even was asking me throughout the week how long the event had been planned and how much planning went into it.
As his parents, it was important for us that he was safe while having fun. Because he was eager to get into the festival on Sunday, I dropped him off under the arch around 12:30 as the first act was to play. We needed a couple more hours after two festival days.
It was a great feeling to see him run off to catch up with friends, feeling he was safe and going to make good decisions. While we had hope of hanging with him a bit or at least running into him, we planned for the inevitability — meeting up at the same spot each night after the last act. Once he was gone out of sight, we did not see him again until the end of the evening. It was fine with us because we knew he was having fun.
While it was great to see the hotels so full, private properties rented months ago and the huge economic impact on most Boardwalk businesses included and near the festival grounds, these local kids of ours made memories to last a lifetime. Most of them can’t wait until next year already.
While my charge each school morning is Carson, 13, Pam may have the rougher end of the deal with Beckett, 15.
The kid just does not like to rush and can be quite stubborn at times. No time is this mulish will more evident than on school mornings. He now prefers to have his breakfast and chill before showering for school. He says it gets him in the right frame of mind. This schedule change also means he leaves for school with his hair dripping wet sometimes because he doesn’t want to be rushed in the shower. He says he wants to enjoy his time. This doesn’t exactly sit well with Pam as you can imagine as she has a full plate with her own days.
This daily drama reminds me of a letter a mom once wrote to her daughter’s school teacher explaining why she was tardy one morning.
“To Whom It May Concern,
Cara is tardy this morning as a result of a condition known as teenage-ism. Adolescents across our great nation are afflicted and there is no known cure.
Symptoms are multitudinous, but this particular morning she suffered from an inability to remove herself from her bed and also felt the need to talk back to her birth-giver.
She seems to be recovering her sents senses after watching her cell phone fly out the car window. Please call me if there is another flare-up.
Thank you.”
Beckett has not been late for school yet, as far as I know, but I could see Pam penning a snarky letter like this one if it ever does happen.
