Did They Make A Wish?

Curt, Rick, and a Blast From The Past
Today, while sitting at Wellington Green Mall, I had a memory flood back to me. It brought a smile to my face and made me miss the days of Curt and Rick always being together. Curt, my 27 year old son is now married and living in Michigan. Rick was his best bud in High School, and is now married and the father of 2 little girls. Curt was always a little more reserved and Rick had a zest for life. They were a great balance for each other. One day, however, while at The Gardens Mall, I wondered about the balance....

Y2K at Sea...Boy Scout Trip To Florida Keys,

December 1999-January 2000)

Joel B, Jason, B, Curt, Ben, Russ

Rick

Curt and Rick were about 14-15 years old when we took them on a shopping trip to the upscale Gardens Mall on PGA Boulevard in Palm Beach Gardens. They were old enough to be allowed to "shop alone" and meet us back at a designated time and place...or so we thought.
We got our shopping done and headed to the car to drive to the entrance named as our meeting spot.
As Curt and Rick approached the car, they were soaking wet....and very happy! Upon closer examination,we noticed their pockets were Drenched AND Bulging. Yep...stuffed FULL with coins from the fountains. Coins thrown in as someone made a wish and had confidence that the coins would be donated to a local charity after routine draining, cleaning, and maintenance.
Then the questioning began, something like this...
"Oh...you mean our pockets? You noticed? Wet? Bulging?"
(How could we not?)
Of course we asked them what they were thinking and what were their plans for the coins....a myriad of answers came, including, donating them to charity (how original).
About half way through the interrogation, they were marching straight inside to dump ALL the coins back into the fountains. a) Because we insisted b) Because they knew it was the right thing to do. (The whole balance thing came back in to play and they were off to do the right thing....which, I am convinced they would have eventually done without our interrogation)
I never asked them...did they make a wish?
If so, I hope it was BIG!

Last month, when visiting Santa at The Gardens Mall, I actually made note of the new hedge-like trim all the way around the fountains and pointed it out to Ron. No way could someone get their hand in the water with that barrier.....unless of course, Curt and Rick visit. Where there is a will, there is a way and they were the perfect team to find a way back in the day.

Have you ever "fished" money out of a fountain?

Come on, tell the truth...