Summer has come and past. The Innocence will never last. Wake me up when September ends. Those words are from the opening line of one of my favorite songs by the band Green Day. Lead singer Billy Joe  Armstrong was singing about love and loss and while those are certainly universal themes, as a sportswriter, it’s not that much of a stretch to interpret those lyrics literally. I have been so busy as of late, a month-long nap would feel pretty good.

Beginning in September, I move from the baseball and softball diamonds to the football and soccer fields, along with the volleyball court. It seems I have a game on my work schedule every day to the week. No wonder Labor Day is in September. Multiple studies have shown that people with Cerebral Palsy expend three to five times more energy to complete the same tasks as their able-bodied peers.

I wish I had some of Gabe’s energy. If the Energizer Bunny ever retired, Gabe would be the perfect mascot to replace him. Gabe keeps going and going and going. When he does sleep, Gabe only needs about five minutes to recharge his proverbial batteries. He spent several hours barking at a baby possum the other night, keeping the whole family awake. Gabe was proud of himself. The rest of us were not so happy.

At the same time, Gabe has shown a few signs of maturing. Conventional wisdom holds that Chessies grow out of puppyhood by age three, and Gabe will be three in October. Until then, as one Facebook poster said, “An adolescent Chessie is like having a raptor from Jurassic Park as a member of the family. You have to hold on for dear life. It’s a wild ride.”

One of the areas in which Gabe has improved is his calmness when he comes in the house. Instead of zooming to every room, he will come straight to my bedroom, jump on my bed, pick out one of his favorite toys from his special shelf and lay down, waiting to be petted. This is a wonderful development for me because when I am too busy to go outside with Gabe, he can come visit in the house and we can have more sedate indoor adventures.

This small change in Gabe’s behavior is a bigger reminder that everything eventually changes. For Gabe, his puppyhood is gone forever. For us as humans, we can never reclaim our childhood once we grow up. As Green Day says: The Innocence will never last. The song ,“Wake Me Up When September Ends” is a perfect example of how things change. The song was released 20 years ago on September 20th 2004. I remember being in college using some of the work-study money I had earned from keeping stats at Gardner-Webb volleyball games to buy the CD. It was actually the first ecular CD I ever purchased and I bought it at an FYE music store in the local mall.

20 years later, most FYE and other music stores have gone out of business as people steam their music and I heard “Wake Me Up When September Ends” at the dentist's office and on the Oldies Station. To me, Oldies will always be Frankie Vallie, Dion and the Belmonts and Elvis Presley, among others. I guess I truly am getting old.

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One thing that hasn’t changed that much is Arin’s  Good Girl Dog Treats. Since their founding in 2020, they have always provided all-natural, great-tasting treats for your dog while championing the cause of inclusion for persons with disabilities in the workforce and in their communities. Gabe and I hope they can continue this mission for many years to come. For now though, since I have work tonight, I am going to invite Gabe inside to be petted and maybe even take a nap together. I just hope somebody wakes us up before September ends.