The Declan Project

By Arthur Hofmann

The Declan Project is a novella, based on a true story, about the unexpected bond of friendship and respect that develops over the course of a summer between a retired lawyer, who is an exercise and fitness fanatic, and a lethargic neighborhood teenager, each of whom motivates the other to be the best he can be.

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Jun 3, 2021
• ISBN: 9781664174764

Arthur Hofmann

Arthur Hofmann is a retired international oil and gas transactional attorney, who was inspired by his career to use his writing talent to reach a much wider audience on subjects that he enjoys like health and fitness through diet and exercise; poetry and nature; and his experiences. The Declan Project is his fifth book. The others are: Good Morning! - a daily diet and exercise guidebook Do You Get It Yet? - a daily diet and exercise guidebook Rise and Shine - a daily diet and exercise guidebook, written in iambic verse Our Florida Friends - a children’s poetry book about the flora and fauna of Florida He lives in Florida and Michigan with his wife, Kim.

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Copyright © 2021 by Arthur Hofmann.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This is a work of fiction. Names, characters, places and incidents either are the product of the author’s imagination or are used fictitiously, and any resemblance to any actual persons, living or dead, events, or locales is entirely coincidental.

Any people depicted in stock imagery provided by Getty Images are models, and such images are being used for illustrative purposes only.

Certain stock imagery © Getty Images.

Rev. date: 06/03/2021

Xlibris

844-714-8691

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In loving memory of my parents, Betty and Arthur

They were always there to help me reach my goals

After we were done with the kitchen renovation, I needed a new project to keep me out of my wife’s hair. While I was running along the beach, I had a crazy idea that morphed overnight into more than just an idea. I called it the Declan Project.

Declan is the son of one of our neighbors in the southwestern Michigan village where we have spent the summer for many years. He actually was the inspiration for the project. I wanted to rescue the teenager from self-imposed couch-potatodom. So I called him on a whim and asked him if he wanted to start jogging with me. I was shocked when he said okay. He told me that he had been contemplating jogging but that was about it—just contemplating jogging. I must have caught him at just the right moment and that’s how we became running partners of sorts.

Declan and I decided to start our unusual partnership on the Saturday before Memorial Day. We settled on 7:00 a.m./8:00 a.m. Michigan is on Eastern Standard Time (EST) but my family stays on Central Standard Time (CST) because Texas, where we live in the wintertime, is on CST. So is Chicago, where our daughter and son-in-law live, and Houston, where our son and his family live.

For our family, it makes sense to us not to change time zones and my wife invented a convention to eliminate the confusion that endures when you decide not to live strictly by the time-zone clock. She tells everyone who visits or is invited to dinner that her convention is to include both time zones in all conversations about the appointed hour. For example, in my case with Declan, I told him that I would meet him at his house at 7/8 on Saturday morning, i.e., 7:00 a.m. CST and 8:00 a.m. EST. The convention works like a charm once you get used to it.

Actually, 7/8 was great for both of us. Declan, being the couch-potato that he is, did not want to get up any earlier than 7/8. Even though he lives in the CST in Chicago during the school year, he lives in Michigan on weekends and summers and his family lives on EST when they are here. For him, 7/8 is the time he gets up for school. Even though most couch potatoes would prefer to sleep in on Saturdays and Sundays, for those of us who are avid (Declan would say rabid) exercise enthusiasts, 7/8 is more like noon.

7/8 gave me the time to bike before jogging with Declan because when I’m in Michigan, I convert to triathlon mode. Every day, seven days a week, I bike ten, run three and swim two—miles that is. Declan, along with most of the rest of the world, thinks that I am stark raving mad but I believe in doing whatever floats your boat and exercise floats mine.

Unfortunately, things got off to an inauspicious start with Declan that first morning. I was a little behind schedule on the bike and didn’t get home until 7:15/8:15. When I walked in the door, my wife was unhappy. She was still in couch-potato mode because her water aerobics class did not begin until 8/9. It’s a class she teaches seven days a week during the summer at the community pool. In a not-too-pleasant voice, she called down from our bedroom, Declan was here at 7/8. Where were you? Peevishly, I responded, I got a late start on the bike.

I texted Declan immediately. Declan, typical of people in his generation, prefers texting over e-mailing and e-mailing over phoning. And so that first morning of the Project began with:

George: Where are you?

Declan: I was there eighteen minutes ago. I’ll be right over.

Phew, I said to myself, I didn’t blow it!

We had agreed that we would run for three miles. Well, it really was not an agreement. I told him that was the plan and he merely grunted.

Declan is not what you would call a conversationalist when he is jogging, especially when he is barely awake. And I gathered from that first run that he, like my wife, is not a morning person. As a result, I was left to lead the way and lead the conversation:

George: How are you this morning, Declan?

Declan: You’re late!

George: I’m sorry. I was behind schedule on the bike.

Then there was a long pause.

George: How was school this week?

Declan: Okay.

Another long pause followed and I was afraid that we would run the entire three miles in total silence, which really defeats the purpose of having a partner. It really dampens all enthusiasm. At least for me. Declan, not so much because he was less than enthusiastic from the get-go. I tried to get him to say something, anything:

George: Have you any idea where you want to go to college?

Declan: I don’t know.

George: Your mother told me that you are considering Notre Dame, apparently your first choice, and Northwestern.

Declan: I’m a good student but not a good enough student so I don’t know if I will get in.

The conversation was going nowhere fast so I decided to pick up the pace of the jog and focus on the beautiful day:

George: Wow, what a beautiful day!

Declan: Are you always so chipper this early in the morning?

George: Yes, it’s the best part of the day!

We were now approaching the lake:

George: Let’s jog along the lake in the hard sand by the shore. Do you want to jog barefoot so we can put our feet in the water?

Declan: Are you crazy? The water’s freezing!

George: Okay then. Let’s just jog with our shoes on, okay?

Silence:

George: Are you not going to say anything during the entire run?

Declan: You’re killing me. I can hardly breathe, let alone talk!

George: Okay, okay! Let’s slow down a bit. How about walking for a little while so you can catch your breath?

Declan stopped and bent over to place his hands on his knees. He