A story about saying 'sometime' until it's too late

Let's have a drink sometime
That one phrase
is the most dangerous

A call on a weekday.

Oh my, who did what to whom...
A morning call from a classmate.

The caller was the catcher.

The right fielder's mother
had passed away.

At the funeral were
the catcher, the second baseman,
and the shortstop (me).

We've reached the age where
reunions happen like this.

Back in junior high.

Our parents would get the coach involved,
celebrating if we won,
and commiserating if we lost.
Singing this, dancing that.

They'd get the coach, who couldn't hold his liquor, drunk,
and once he recovered, they'd do it again.

The parents were the real stars.

Even after we became adults,
that connection continued.

"You're adults now, too,
so it's your turn to host."

We were told that, so we planned a few times,
drank together, and laughed.

Back then,
I thought it would last forever.

Before I knew it, I was sixty.

Our fathers have all gone to heaven.
Our mothers, too, one after another.

The right fielder says,
"Every day, she'd bike to the station,
take the train to work,
and work until late..."

To those words spoken through tears,
I could only nod.

"Thank you."
As the right fielder saw her off while crying,

"Let's have a drink when things settle down."
I say to them.

Then my second-in-command says one thing.
"Didn't you say 'let's have a drink sometime'
before, too?"

That stings.

But, it's spot on.

On the way home, I suddenly think.

"Sometime" might actually be
the promise that never really comes.

So—
next time, I'll decide it myself.

I'll pick a date, pick a place,
and make a proper plan to meet.

(Human Drops)
"Sometime"
usually never comes
so do it now