RUNNEMEDE REMEMBERED

Growing up in a small town in Southern New Jersey


Friday, March 13, 2009

Another embarrassment

Another "trick" my dad liked to pull at the most inappropriate times was to break his thumb apart. It was an optical illusion and he was good at making it look authentic. He must have practiced in front of a mirror.

I can't even describe how he did the trick, just to say that if one of his children was trying to impress a friend, dad could be counted on to make us look like idiots.

There were many times when I wanted to crawl under the dining room table!

Today I wonder how he could do that trick with his arthritic hands. I used to be able to do the same thing with my hands, but now that I've got crooked fingers, I can't do it any more at all. Maybe he called on adrenalin or something to get up the courage to bend his thumbs at odd angles to cause his children embarrassment.

As my niece puts it: Isn't that what parents are for? To embarrass their children? To that I say, No! But then she doesn't like broccoli. So I guess I have my "no embarrassment to children" banner to wave, and she has her "down with broccoli" banner to raise.

We, as a family, still have lots of fun with each other.

ttfn

3 comments:

Lori said...

hahahaha I think this is the right of all parents!!! :-) I will say, with grandpa's finger trick and his disappearing ball trick, I thought he was the greatest magician of all time! Everytime we'd see him, I'd anxiously await these tricks. I've even tried the thumb trick with MY kids. :-)

Judi Hahn said...

I have that magic ball trick at my house. If you ever visit me, I'll give it to you and you can pull it on your children. That one didn't really embarrass me very much. I would beg him to show me that trick even when I had friends over, even when I was in college!

Rose said...

I have to say I agree with Lori. I loved those tricks, no matter how many times I saw them. He used to show them to the waitresses down at the Century Diner, too and that wasn't embarrassing- he was the coolest, funniest magician ever.
;-) I loved it when he showed those tricks to my kids, too. And his corny jokes were the best. Jake carries on that tradition for him in a way I think he'd be proud of.
As far as embarrasing one's children... certain things are sacrosanct, but there are a few areas where embarrassing one's kids is too much fun to pass up. Gotta say my kids don't appreciate it much, though. (I only purposely embarrass them around certain relatives. Really.)
jrs