When I was a senior in high school, a buddy of mine named Wade was having a rough patch at his home. My mom and dad let him move in with us for a while, which helped him out of a jam and was great fun for me.
My parents put an extra bed in my room and Wade and I began figuring out being roommates, as well as friends. Somewhere in all of this, a great prank war broke out. Truth be told, we had been playing jokes on each other for a long time. Having so more access and proximity, the roommate situation created lots more opportunities.
For instance, I put a bowl full of marbles in the freezer. Said marbles then ended up in Wade's bed as he slept or at least he was sleeping when the prank started. Of course, as he tried to roll away from the marbles they just followed him.
A few nights later, Wade retaliated by sticking straight pins along the edge of my mattress so that when I slid into bed, they would poke me. I guess the first time I got into my bed, I sort of hopped in and missed them. So Wade would get up, turn the light on and get back into his bed. I would then have to get out of bed to turn out the light and slide back into bed. It took about three tries before I got stuck with the pins. I howled with expletives and he howled with laughter.
And on it went, with the escalating cleverness and sometimes viciousness.
So one day, we come home from school together. I sit down inthe living room and Wade disappears back to our room, which had its own bathroom. A few minutes later, Wade barrels into the living room, pounces on me and starts pummeling me with his fists.
I was trying to figure out what the hell was going on and my mom was yelling from the kitchen "you boys settle down!". I was all in favor of things settling down, but Wade was plenty mad.
I was yelling "what?" and he kept telling me I knew what. Mom came into the living room and she was yelling now, too. So Wade tells her what the problem was.
"Neil put something on the toilet seat and it's burning my ass!"
I protested, "I don't know what he is talking about!!!"
My mom's face shifted from mad to thoughtful then she began laughing. "Oh no! I was cleaning you boys' toilet and I had just put liquid Comet on the seat and the phone rang. I went to answer it and must have forgot all about the toilet seat and never wiped it off." By the time she reached the end of the explanation, she was laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes.
I was still trying to figure out what was going on, but felt better knowing that I was vindicated. Meanwhile, Wade was getting madder because the pain was only intensifying. He dropped his pants back down to get a look at the damage and see how he could soothe it and sure enough there was a red blistered ring around his posterior right where the seat had been.
My mom was laughing so hard, she had to sit. I was laughing because well because it was funny. And Wade was in too much pain to see the humor. Even though he knew who did it, he couldn't hit my mom, so he punched me again, which made my mom laugh even more.
Nobody has ever described my mom as jovial, but when she got on a roll of laughter it was something to witness. She had once laughed so much, they threatened to throw her out of the hospital and she was the patient! That day with Wade was probably the hardest I ever saw her laugh.
Though that story might seem to be mostly about Wade and me, it really captures a lot of my mom. Sometimes a little scattered, which sometimes led to funny things. No nonsense at first she didn't care what was going on she just wanted us to "cut it out". A bit twisted, which allowed her to find joy in Wade's misfortune, then mine. A bit paradoxical in being a tough woman that had lived a hard life and could still laugh with such abandon.
But most of all, what that story tells about Winnie Turner - after raising 7 kids whose ages span over 25 years*, she found room in her home, her time and her heart to care for one more she clearly loved mothering.
* that's more than 43 years of having kids under 18 at home
My parents put an extra bed in my room and Wade and I began figuring out being roommates, as well as friends. Somewhere in all of this, a great prank war broke out. Truth be told, we had been playing jokes on each other for a long time. Having so more access and proximity, the roommate situation created lots more opportunities.
For instance, I put a bowl full of marbles in the freezer. Said marbles then ended up in Wade's bed as he slept or at least he was sleeping when the prank started. Of course, as he tried to roll away from the marbles they just followed him.
A few nights later, Wade retaliated by sticking straight pins along the edge of my mattress so that when I slid into bed, they would poke me. I guess the first time I got into my bed, I sort of hopped in and missed them. So Wade would get up, turn the light on and get back into his bed. I would then have to get out of bed to turn out the light and slide back into bed. It took about three tries before I got stuck with the pins. I howled with expletives and he howled with laughter.
And on it went, with the escalating cleverness and sometimes viciousness.
So one day, we come home from school together. I sit down inthe living room and Wade disappears back to our room, which had its own bathroom. A few minutes later, Wade barrels into the living room, pounces on me and starts pummeling me with his fists.
I was trying to figure out what the hell was going on and my mom was yelling from the kitchen "you boys settle down!". I was all in favor of things settling down, but Wade was plenty mad.
I was yelling "what?" and he kept telling me I knew what. Mom came into the living room and she was yelling now, too. So Wade tells her what the problem was.
"Neil put something on the toilet seat and it's burning my ass!"
I protested, "I don't know what he is talking about!!!"
My mom's face shifted from mad to thoughtful then she began laughing. "Oh no! I was cleaning you boys' toilet and I had just put liquid Comet on the seat and the phone rang. I went to answer it and must have forgot all about the toilet seat and never wiped it off." By the time she reached the end of the explanation, she was laughing so hard she had tears in her eyes.
I was still trying to figure out what was going on, but felt better knowing that I was vindicated. Meanwhile, Wade was getting madder because the pain was only intensifying. He dropped his pants back down to get a look at the damage and see how he could soothe it and sure enough there was a red blistered ring around his posterior right where the seat had been.
My mom was laughing so hard, she had to sit. I was laughing because well because it was funny. And Wade was in too much pain to see the humor. Even though he knew who did it, he couldn't hit my mom, so he punched me again, which made my mom laugh even more.
Nobody has ever described my mom as jovial, but when she got on a roll of laughter it was something to witness. She had once laughed so much, they threatened to throw her out of the hospital and she was the patient! That day with Wade was probably the hardest I ever saw her laugh.
Though that story might seem to be mostly about Wade and me, it really captures a lot of my mom. Sometimes a little scattered, which sometimes led to funny things. No nonsense at first she didn't care what was going on she just wanted us to "cut it out". A bit twisted, which allowed her to find joy in Wade's misfortune, then mine. A bit paradoxical in being a tough woman that had lived a hard life and could still laugh with such abandon.
But most of all, what that story tells about Winnie Turner - after raising 7 kids whose ages span over 25 years*, she found room in her home, her time and her heart to care for one more she clearly loved mothering.
* that's more than 43 years of having kids under 18 at home
