Wmcmanus
President treasurer secretary and sole member of the Cayman Islands Head-Fi Club.
- Joined
- Nov 29, 2002
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Do you have time for a quick story?
When I was in junior high, my paternal grandfather was living with us in the basement bedroom, and had been for a couple of years. Although his health was deteriorating quickly and he needed constant care, he never lost his dry sense of humor. After all, he was an Irishman! "Beer and cigarettes," he would say, "... that's all a man needs." Of course he hadn't had either for years, but he still laughed to himself about it, and would often reflect back on his bar hopping days. He was quite the character, to say the least.
My mom was (and still is) an amazing woman, raising 6 kids between the ages of 1 and 12, running us all around our little home town to wherever we needed to be, and still finding time to cook, clean, look after her father-in-law and have supper on the table for dad when he got home from work. I have no idea how she managed to do it all so effortlessly. But she'll now admit to having taken a short cut every now and then when there was too much to manage.
She and I got to laughing the other day when I was home visiting her over the holidays. I asked her if she remembered the disaster of a double layered birthday cake that she had made for one of my brothers. I mean, that poor thing was really pathetic! But it was presented with pride in any event, and as we all sat around the table about to sing happy birthday to my then 5 year-old brother (who didn't seem to notice the imperfections in the cake because it was shaped like Speed Racer's car -- well, sort of -- just as he had requested), she suddenly came out with a confession.
She said, "Listen now, kids, please be very careful because there are some toothpicks hidden in the cake. That's the only way I could keep it from falling apart..." We all heard her, but sort of ignored the message because, well, we were kids and there was birthday cake and ice cream to be eaten! But she kept an eye out and wandered around the table collecting the toothpicks as we found them. Then suddenly, my grandfather looks up, holding a toothpick in his hand and with a half smile as he shows it to my mom, he sheepishly asks, "Do I win a prize?"
We're still not sure to this day if he was actually serious, or if he was just pulling her leg? She thinks she saw a twinkle in his eyes, but she can't be sure. At that particular time, he was really quite ill, and actually passed on a couple of months later. So maybe he just got confused and didn't grasp the intent of her announcement about the toothpicks (which was to make sure that nobody choked)! Perhaps he thought it was a game, and that the toothpick hunt was intended to be part of the fun? Mom was always full of surprises, so that wouldn't have an been entirely unreasonable assumption on his part.
I guess we'll never know for sure. I think he was half serious and half kidding because he then put on what looked like a bit of an act by slumping his shoulders in disappointment when learning that he didn't actually win a prize. Whatever the case may be, he sure had a contented look on his face when he first found that toothpick hidden in his piece of cake, as though it was actually an accomplishment worth celebrating!
In the scope of life, of course this little event meant nothing at all. But at the moment it was totally hilarious (at least to an 11 year-old). He was a simple and complicated man all wrapped up in one; none of us could ever even begin to understand what was going on in his mind. Was he actually serious?
So this is my 10,000th post at Head-Fi. Do I win a prize? Or is it just another hidden toothpick in the grand scheme of life, to be enjoyed only for a fleeting moment, but always -- in some small way -- remembered for whatever it was worth?
Edit: For my "roll of thanks" please see post #10 in this thread.
When I was in junior high, my paternal grandfather was living with us in the basement bedroom, and had been for a couple of years. Although his health was deteriorating quickly and he needed constant care, he never lost his dry sense of humor. After all, he was an Irishman! "Beer and cigarettes," he would say, "... that's all a man needs." Of course he hadn't had either for years, but he still laughed to himself about it, and would often reflect back on his bar hopping days. He was quite the character, to say the least.
My mom was (and still is) an amazing woman, raising 6 kids between the ages of 1 and 12, running us all around our little home town to wherever we needed to be, and still finding time to cook, clean, look after her father-in-law and have supper on the table for dad when he got home from work. I have no idea how she managed to do it all so effortlessly. But she'll now admit to having taken a short cut every now and then when there was too much to manage.
She and I got to laughing the other day when I was home visiting her over the holidays. I asked her if she remembered the disaster of a double layered birthday cake that she had made for one of my brothers. I mean, that poor thing was really pathetic! But it was presented with pride in any event, and as we all sat around the table about to sing happy birthday to my then 5 year-old brother (who didn't seem to notice the imperfections in the cake because it was shaped like Speed Racer's car -- well, sort of -- just as he had requested), she suddenly came out with a confession.
She said, "Listen now, kids, please be very careful because there are some toothpicks hidden in the cake. That's the only way I could keep it from falling apart..." We all heard her, but sort of ignored the message because, well, we were kids and there was birthday cake and ice cream to be eaten! But she kept an eye out and wandered around the table collecting the toothpicks as we found them. Then suddenly, my grandfather looks up, holding a toothpick in his hand and with a half smile as he shows it to my mom, he sheepishly asks, "Do I win a prize?"
We're still not sure to this day if he was actually serious, or if he was just pulling her leg? She thinks she saw a twinkle in his eyes, but she can't be sure. At that particular time, he was really quite ill, and actually passed on a couple of months later. So maybe he just got confused and didn't grasp the intent of her announcement about the toothpicks (which was to make sure that nobody choked)! Perhaps he thought it was a game, and that the toothpick hunt was intended to be part of the fun? Mom was always full of surprises, so that wouldn't have an been entirely unreasonable assumption on his part.
I guess we'll never know for sure. I think he was half serious and half kidding because he then put on what looked like a bit of an act by slumping his shoulders in disappointment when learning that he didn't actually win a prize. Whatever the case may be, he sure had a contented look on his face when he first found that toothpick hidden in his piece of cake, as though it was actually an accomplishment worth celebrating!
In the scope of life, of course this little event meant nothing at all. But at the moment it was totally hilarious (at least to an 11 year-old). He was a simple and complicated man all wrapped up in one; none of us could ever even begin to understand what was going on in his mind. Was he actually serious?
So this is my 10,000th post at Head-Fi. Do I win a prize? Or is it just another hidden toothpick in the grand scheme of life, to be enjoyed only for a fleeting moment, but always -- in some small way -- remembered for whatever it was worth?
Edit: For my "roll of thanks" please see post #10 in this thread.
