Another Couple of Stories

I was in the 7th grade.

I remember that specifically because I had a Pittsburgh Steelers shirt that year.

Here’s how the story goes:

“Cliff! Let’s go! School!!”

It was Dad shaking me awake, which wasn’t unusual. He got us up in shifts so that the bathrooms weren’t always occupied. 

It was my turn to be first out of bed. I was foggy, but all my life, my first inclination is to get showered. I’m the same way to this day.

I got showered, and headed downstairs. Everything was pretty quiet in other areas of the house, but the kitchen light was on and Dad was at the table.

I was wearing that Steelers shirt. (I wasn’t a fan of the team…I sort of liked the colors).

That got Dad talking about football…something he knew little about…so it was all a tad strange.

1976.

The Bills had Ferguson and Orenthal.

I had a bowl of Honeycomb, but I kept drifting back towards sleep.

Also strange.

“What’s wrong with you?” Dad finally asked.

“I don’t know,” I said. “I’m beat.”

My wonderful Dad started laughing.

I didn’t even get the “What?” Out of my mouth.

I glanced up at the kitchen clock.

It was ten minutes after two.

“Why?” I asked.

Dad was laughing so hard that he couldn’t even apologize right.

I finished the cereal, and was ripping the shirt off and heading for the stairs

“I couldn’t sleep,” Dad said. “I just wanted someone to talk to.”

Over the next 30 years, we laughed a lot about that night.

John recently brought it to Kathy’s attention.

“He was laughing his ass off,” Kathy said. “Forty-five years later.”

The recall of the story made me laugh.

“That’s not even the worst thing he did,” I said. “One morning he spotted Carrie’s lottery ticket. He used a post-it note to write down five out of the six numbers off that ticket.

He wrote across the top:

“Saturday’s Lotto numbers”

He then left that post-it note on the kitchen table…

…a long way away from Carrie’s ticket…

…but close enough for her to see it.

She took the bait.

“Oh my freaking God!” Carrie shrieked.

Dad was seated right across from her.

“I got five numbers!”

Dad looked at her ticket and the note he had written.

He hugged her tightly.

“It’s not a million but it’s close “

Carrie’s eyes filled with tears of joy…

…before he started laughing.

(Then we wonder where Jeff got it from).