My youngest son sent me an article about a study finding that the youngest sibling in the family is the funniest. It’s true, he has a way with words. As a child, he never tried to make us laugh, but somehow it just spilled out — funny. He was everyone’s favorite in the family. Still is. Comedy just flows from his comments in discussions. I really wish I had them all recorded — laughter is always the best medicine. He will be a successful screenwriter.
My dad had a sense of humor. He was the youngest of eight. His mom had him when she was 46 years old — twenty-one years after the birth of her first child. She’s my gramma who lived during the San Francisco earthquake of 1906.
My dad often messed up the punch line when telling a joke, which made everything funny.
He liked to use abbreviations —
He would hand me an update of his trust and say, “this is for when I am D&G.” [Dead and Gone]
Whenever we got lost while driving, he would say — “well that was a WGC.” [Wild Goose Chase]
His other sayings included —
“don’t fall in the drink” — As in, walking along a lakeshore — “be careful, don’t fall in the drink.
“blasted” — a curse term
“balderdash” — often said while driving in heavy traffic. He hated traffic.
“my sainted aunt” — an exclamation
“crappysbang” — another exclamation
“what the sam hill” — probably in place of “what the hell?”
“shit o dear” — said with a sigh [one of my favorites]
“hells bells” — an exasperation exclamation
“for pete’s sake” — another way to exclaim
“I don’t Q-up” — his aversion to standing in any kind of a line.
I don’t know the story behind the photo of my dad as a young boy, by a teepee — as I recall he did not enjoy camping. After my dad died, I had a dream in which I asked him how he was — he replied “it’s no picnic.” True to his character, but I’m not sure what he meant. But since then, I dreamed he was having a good time — his family were gathered for a big party, and I could hear jazz music coming from a house.
Posted Nov 4, 2015
