Daddy Dearly Loved to Laugh

Daddy Dearly Loved to Laugh

Today, July 29, 2011, marks the fifth year since my daddy died of complications from heart disease and diabetes.  My brother and I sat beside his hospital bed laughing and talking about our childhood years while Daddy slept.  It seems befitting that's what we were doing when he took his last breath, because like Elizabeth in Pride and Prejudice, he "dearly loved a laugh".

Both he and his brother David were practical jokers at heart.  Coarse as it was, at one time or another an unsuspecting friend or relative fell prey to their Whoopee cushions, fake dog poo, or vomit.     

Daddy scared my Aunt Ollie and Aunt Jeanette half to death with the "Wild African Mongoose" he got from his brother, David.  The "mongoose" was actually a squirrel tail partially hidden in a compartment of a cage, similar to a bunny hutch.  The object of the joke was told, "the mongoose is sleeping, but you can poke him with this stick to wake him up".  When poked, the cage door flies open and a spring sends the squirrel tail flying...much to the surprise of the person being pranked.  Of course, Daddy thought it was hilarious!  But my dear aunts, along with others I feel sure, were mad as Carolina hornets at him, and rightly so. 

Another of his favorite pranks was the disappearing water trick.  Just ask any of the grandchildren about that one.  I'm sure they remember it well...or ice cream cones with cottage cheese...yuck!

My brother reminded me recently of the "urban legend" my Dad liked to tell on his brother, David.  When they were young, and someone died, their bodies were not viewed in a funeral home as they are today.  The were "laid out" out home, usually in the living room for friends and relatives to come and "view the body". 

Since embalming wasn't performed, quarters were placed on the eyes of the "dearly departed" to keep them closed.  The legend goes that Daddy and Uncle David were walking home from a "viewing" when Uncle David asked, "What do you think those quarters on his eyes were for?", to which my Dad replied, "To pay his way across the River Jordan".  Uncle Dave replied back, "Then I guess he'll have to swim, because I stole those two quarters!" 

Oh, Daddy...thanks for the good memories.  I dearly love to laugh, too!

Copyright 2011 Charlotte Laney