I loved the roundup of holiday comments in the previous “Reader” post – some real classics! Not to play “Can you top this,” but….well, it seems that no matter how crazy people think they’ve had it, our experience with Dad usually can top it.
For instance, this comment:
(Uncle reluctantly uncorking a third .75 liter red wine bottle at a table of 10 adults): “OK, this is it. If anyone wants anything more to drink, you can just go to the liquor store yourself.”
Along similar lines: One year, my parents decided to host Thanksgiving dinner at their club. As I recall, we received a verbal invitation to the event from my mother. Then Dad got wind of things, and made sure the terms were clear…this letter was sent on his business stationery (edited in spots here for privacy reasons):
Dad must have kept a ruler readily available in the drawer to meticulously outline all details of his Thanksgiving instruction letters. Judging by the precision of the price list, he probably called the club for the most up-to-date figures (you can be sure be added the price of the phone call into the tally).
But hey…Dad did offer to pick up the cost of the wine! Except he imagined that three “reasonably priced” bottles were going to excite the palettes of 24 adults – many of whom had spent time battling holiday traffic on the Long Island Expressway to make it to this swinging party. If I calculate correctly, that works out to about half a glass per person. (Dad was baffled when he saw additional bottles appearing at the table, since we negotiated behind the scenes with the waiters to make things a bit more festive.) I’m glad I wasn’t in the vicinity when he had to settle his promised tip.
Thanks for your stories and comments – keep ’em coming!
You’re stories are so well written. My husband and I are laughing away. I’m so glad we were introduced to the blog. Your father sounds a lot like my Grandmother with the Thanskgiving story. I look forward to reading more about your family!
[WORDPRESS HASHCASH] The poster sent us ‘0 which is not a hashcash value.
Katie: Thanks so much for your kind comments! Never fear..there are LOTS more stories to tell…
Do you suppose in a few years our kids will post the we-got-dressed-up-and-walked-through-a-fancy-restaurant-to-see-the-decorations-at Christmas-but-didn’t-eat-there on this site?
Ha, ha….I hope so! And let’s hope they admire our resourcefulness, modeling the survival skills to weather a recession, right?
I love these entertaining family moments! 🙂
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We are reviving this blog. By all means, please contribute your adventures to us, and we’ll get it on!