Legacy

This morning I'm at breakfast, and I hear a girl say, "Everyone in my family has it. I have it, my dad has it, my grandfather has it."

Morbidly eager curiosity has never consumed a person such as it does now. I cannot wait to hear what everyone in this family has. Is it a rare vase? Is it a life-threatening condition? Is it athlete's foot? My ears stretch backward out of my head in order to reach the conversation behind me, which a male voice continues.

"Your grandfather has [mumble mumble]?"

"Yeah," the girl replies. "My grandfather has Jock Jams. We all do."

I laugh to myself, and imagine an old man sitting in his armchair with a pipe, and Pump Up the Jam blasting on the record player. I wonder if he ever uses the techno music to accompany his aerobics hour, and I wonder which disc he has. I have at least three. Perhaps I'll make a copy for my grandparents too.