Did tennis and Chuck E. Cheese's as promised/planned, then, driving through Lakewood talked, as always, about my alma mater there. The boys expressed interest in walking the campus some, so I turned down 9^th.

The guard at the entrance asked for an ID and I gave him my driver's license. I told the kids that after 9/11, campus security became very tight. It seems to have gotten even tighter since my time there. I mean, even after graduating, I used their library every once in a while and never had to show ID. Maybe a Saturday afternoon is different than a weekday. Well, especially in Lakewood it is.

And the guard told me not to enter any buildings. I didn't plan on it: we were going to walk to the mansion and back. But, halfway to the mansion, the littlest boy said he had to use the facilities.

I spotted a security jeep outside the chapel and ventured inside. I found the guard almost immediately and explained my promise followed by our need. He was locking up the building but a sister was waiting for a ride, so he had a few minutes for us. I had the other two wait outside but as we exited, the second-littlest boy informed me that he also had to go.

I turned immediately to find the guard again but he was already gone through the card access door. The sister was getting into a car that had arrived. However, there was a restroom just to our right, so we snuck in and he made quick use. I imagined that a motion-sensor alarm had been enabled but, as far as I know, we didn't set anything off leaving. The security guard was driving away as we came out and I'm sure that he saw us.

We walked around the mansion and then headed back to our car. The boys complained of being thirsty and I had put a dollar and some change in my pocket so I could get a can of soda from the machine outside the library. But the machine rejected my paper money, so we entered the nearby canteen. There was a long line of soccer or field hockey players waiting for hamburgers and fries, but I grabbed a soda from the cooler and went in front of them all to pay. I didn't even bother to let the clerk ring it up, I put down extra money and hustled the boys out. "I don't think anyone saw us," I said to them. But a security guard drove past as we were seated on a bench, sharing the bottle.

I probably should return and check the status of my alumni library card. And I want to hear Fr. Martin when he's there November 8^th.

The Upper Room Spiritual Center, Neptune, NJ.