Today is Father’s Day, and so I can’t help but think of my father, who has been deceased for almost nine years.  When I think of my father, I most remember his sense of humor and how he loved practical jokes.  His jokes weren’t always funny to everyone he imposed them on, but that never deterred him.  One that I particularly remember that still frosts my mother happened when we were vacationing at the beach when I was about ten years old.  My mother was very sensitive about having gained a lot of weight after I was born, and was very shy on the beach, choosing to stay to herself on her blanket and enjoy the sun and fun around her.  She had made herself a couple of new matching shorts and shirts outfits and was wearing one of them.  The shorts were simple with an elastic waist all the way around, so they were very easy to pull on and off, and Mother wasn’t happy that she had to wear elastic waist shorts yet she never did anything to lose weight either.  I can’t ever remember my mother on a diet until she was much older. 

While Mother lounged in seclusion, Daddy and I were playing as usual because my dad was a big kid who never grew up himself.  We had found some sand fiddlers, which look much like large bugs.  It was fascinating to watch them become exposed as the waves washed in, and then bury themselves quickly after the turbulent wave left the sand smooth.  I can still remember how cool it was to see them scrambling and burying, leaving the wet sand perfectly smooth as if they had never been there.  Daddy got the idea to pick some of them up before they could hide again, and showed them to me up close.  I didn’t like seeing them up close!  So, I ran up to Mother for safety.  Daddy came behind me, laughing and apologizing for scaring me.  “It’s okay, Deb.  Come on back and play.  I won’t bother the sand fiddlers again.”  So, I was hopping up to go back to the water with him when I heard my mother scream at the top of her lungs.  She shot off the blanket and ran down the beach, pulling off her shorts as she ran.  I stared in disbelief and looked back at Daddy to see what was wrong or if he was going to help her with whatever was wrong.  He did go to her, picking up her shorts as he did and delivering them to her.  She hit him repeatedly as she grabbed the shorts and quickly put them back on.  It seems he had slipped a handful of those sand fiddlers down the back of her shorts!  It was awfully funny to me and Daddy to see Mother just rip off her shorts in public that way, but it was not funny to her at all. 

I mentioned this episode to her the other day when we were having lunch together, and I could tell it still angered her that Daddy would humiliate her that way.  Of course, in all fairness, I don’t think Daddy knew that she would actually pull her pants off in front of everyone.  He just thought he’d give her a little shock.  I guess I just choose to remember the funny sight of my mother running and shedding shorts on that bright sunny day at the beach.