In keeping with the theme of birthday blog entries, today is my brother’s birthday. I was at his house just a month ago for my birthday, and wish we could be together today. If we were, I’m sure we’d be laughing our heads off about something.
I can almost never be around my brother without getting the hiccups. It’s been like this since we were kids. I’ve written about how funny Dave is, and Doug is funny in a completely different way. From a young age, we’ve seen humor in things that most kids wouldn’t and many times in things that we shouldn’t find funny. And that just makes it more funny. It’s like laughing in church. Once you start, you can’t stop.
I’ll never forget the first holiday our parents were separated. We were having Thanksgiving dinner with my dad’s family. I was in 5th grade; Doug was in 7th. The adults were extremely uncomfortable with the situation and didn’t really know what to say. Dinner was served without much conversation, in fact. Then came chocolate cake. Someone who was trying to break the silence said, “This cake is GOOD.” The response: “And MOIST.”
There! We had six whole words out there. A few minutes and bites later a different family member offered, “This cake is MOIST,” to which someone replied, “And GOOD!” Hmmm…. six more words uttered, yet the same six words. And so it went around the table a few more times before the dishes were cleared about how good and moist, how moist and good the cake was. Each time Doug and I would exchange sideways glances trying not to laugh so hard we’d spit our good and moist cake out of our mouths. As soon as we were excused from the table, we ran out in the yard and laughed at how uncomfortable the adults were.
It might have been the same day that my dad was trying to get us ready to leave my grandma’s (not an easy task since I don’t think we ever wanted to leave there) when he became extremely frustrated with us. Doug and I were sitting next to each other putting on our shoes and we would tie our shoelaces together and then try to walk. My dad was just ready to go so finally he took advantage of the fact that Doug and I were sitting right next to each other and he put a hand on Doug’s head and a hand on mine and banged our heads together. It wasn’t very nice. I’m sure it hurt. You can probably guess what happened. Doug and I took a quick look of shock at each other before we started cracking up. It was hillarious. My dad threw his hands in the air.
I guess family holiday gatherings provided a lot of opportunities to laugh at things maybe we shouldn’t. There was the Christmas that a family member made personalized gifts for everyone. It was an incredibly sweet gesture. I didn’t want to laugh as the gifts were unopened to reveal that some of the recipients’ names were mis-spelled on their homemade presents, but one glance across the room at my brother had me quickly exusing myself to get more of my grandma’s sweet tea. I was in my 20’s then, but when we got outside, Doug and I laughed like little kids.
And there are dozens more stories like this. Happy Birthday, Doug! I hope you get to spend the day with your family, and that somebody gets the hiccups today. And of course that your birthday cake is good. And moist. And moist. And good. And good. And moist. And moist. And good.
I love you! –Your Lil Sis
