With the spat of severe storms that we have had lately, we lost our trampoline. As Travis and I hung out in the cinderblock portion of the basement last Friday night with the cat and the dog, we heard something going on outside. Travis immediately said, “You want me to go check it out?” Um, NO! That’s why we are in the storage room. For a smart guy, sometimes he is not so smart. We only had to stay there for about 15 minutes. When we emerged, we could not find anything amiss. House and cars were fine (whew!). We went to bed. In the morning, we discovered that our trampoline had bent itself around a tree. Looking from the house, I thought we could save it. Upon closer inspection, it was bent in a few places, and the jumping mat was definitely not taut, which would probably be a problem. That tree was the only obstacle stopping the trampoline from blowing into our neighbor’s house, so we are in the tree’s debt, if one can be in debt to a tree. 

Later that chilly Saturday, while dismantling the wreckage of the trampoline, I was able to think about our long history of owning a trampoline. It was bittersweet because we will not replace this trampoline. About 18 years ago, we bought our first trampoline, while living in Lisle. Travis swore that he would NEVER own a trampoline, citing the inherent dangers. I tried to argue that many of those statistics were from before trampolines had substantial nets around them. He was not budging. Then, one warm spring evening, my brother Larry was over having drinks around the bonfire. It occurred to me that Larry had a trampoline, so I (ever so discretely… or not) asked him if he liked having one. He loved the trampoline! He went on about how his kids played for hours on it. He wished he had gotten one when they were younger (like my kids ages). 

Now, before you go thinking that I am malicious and that this was a set-up, let me defend myself. It was a set-up… but at that time, Larry came over frequently enough, so it wasn’t purely a set up. It was a convenient trap. I had already vetted Larry’s answer. After months of saying no, Travis said, “I guess we could get a trampoline then.” I looked at my watch. It was 7:30pm. I ran out of there without any explanation, straight to Sam’s Club, where I purchased a trampoline. I had my yes. I wasn’t waiting until the realization of morning turned it back to a no! Nothing like friends and alcohol to loosen the decision making skills. When you go to Sam’s Club right before close, and buy a big item, there are plenty of people to help you, because they want to go home. So, it was no problem to get it into the vehicle. 

To Trav’s credit, he and Larry spent the rest of that night, using flashlights and a makeshift spotlight, putting that trampoline together. The kids were jumping around them, until I scooted them off to bed, with promises of a trampoline in the morning. The next day was like Christmas morning, with the kids jumping on our bed at 5am. I had to let Travis sleep in, since I was the one responsible for this cacophony. So, I made a pot of coffee, and went outside with the kids at first light, so they could spend the ENTIRE DAY on the trampoline, stopping only for bathroom breaks and reluctantly for meals. 

When we moved to Indiana in 2015, we thought we could leave the trampoline behind, but the kids disagreed, so we got a new one. When we moved to the new house in Valparaiso, we thought surely our trampoline days were behind us, but, once again, the kids disagreed. So for Christmas 2019, when our youngest was a junior in high school, we gifted them the final trampoline. During covid, with seven people living in the house full time, that trampoline was a life saver. Good thing we bought it before covid hit, because you couldn’t find one after people realized that they would be stuck at home with their kids for a LONG time. 

This time, when my youngest is finishing his second year of college, we will not be getting a new trampoline. While the kids still used it, it doesn’t seem like they used it enough. I think the true risk of a trampoline lies in its ability to blow into houses, as we never had any significant injury to a person in all those years. Mat burn was it. Who knows how many times that net prevented a bad fall. I was even saved a couple times, and I was rarely on the trampoline. 

The kids get older, and life moves on. I am just a bit sad to move past this time, but here we are. Have a great week everyone! Love every stage with those kids. They grow up and move on, leaving you wondering how you survived it all.