Joy of Laughter

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A quick "Easter" story that always make me laugh. 

My grandmother (Hazel* Elizabeth Pennock Martin) told me this story  - so I know it’s true. She was a stalwart and honest woman whom I greatly admired. This incident took place circa 1934.

My grandmother and her girlfriend were two new mothers. Picture them sitting and drinking coffee at an enamel/ metal table in a small kitchen in Toronto, Ontario - the same table on which my father was born in 1930. Their two children (both boys) were playing under the table with some wooden trucks. (Social commentary: isn't it nice to envision the slower pace of the world at this time. I know it was in the middle of the Great Depression and times were tough, but just thinking about two young women sharing coffee, conversation, and TIME! I like to imagine that they helped each other through this period in our history.)

My dad, Paul Martin, was my grandmother’s first born and he was one of the wee boys under the table. He was four years old. The other 4-year-old, Jimmy MacPherson, maintained a friendship with my dad  throughout their childhood. The boys got a little rambunctious in their play and, at one point, Jimmy slammed a toy truck into my dad’s hand rather hard. Dad immediately let out a whoop of pain and hollered in his four-year-old lisping voice: 

“Jesus KWIIIIIIIISSST”…

Realizing that he had not only used the Lord’s name in vain, but that he had done so in the presence of two women within spanking range, he immediately pivoted with … 

“has WISEN today!”

The two women at the table collapsed in laughter!

 

·     *  My cousin Marie named her daughter Hazel after our grandmother – and her namesake just had a birthday! Happy 7th birthday, Hazel!

Comments

  1. AnonymousApril 22, 2023 at 11:04 AM

    Your dad was always a well versed man and extremely intelligent as a child.♥️

    ReplyDelete

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