I just remembered something from when I was a child.
My dad died when I was young. Before he died, when I was about 9, this happened:
We owned a home that had apartments upstairs. 2 of the apartments had a shared bathroom off a hallway. In one of the two apartments lived two women (in a one room efficiency).
I was outside playing with my friends. I had to pee really bad. I ran into the house and felt like I could not make it to our regular bathroom, so I bolted up the interior stair case to the shared bathroom for the people in the apartments. I could see the light was on in the bathroom, but the door was not completely shut, so in my idiocy and urgency, I ran into the bathroom and saw two women that shared one of the apartments taking a bath together in the big clawfoot tub. They had their arms around each other and had just stopped kissing when I burst in.
I was shocked, for two reasons. 1) Boobs 2) Two women in a tub kissing.
I think I just froze looking at them. They cracked up hysterically.
I ran down the stairs and found my father. Told him breathlessly that the ladies upstairs were taking a bath together and kissing! You know, like I was de Soto or something, and I had just discovered some new land.
He very calmly responded "That's alright, Luckycharms".
Me: "But..."
Dad: "Lucky, you will understand as you grow a little older that some women like to kiss women. Also, some men like to kiss men. I know you don't understand now, but you will. It's not a big deal, so don't make it a big deal, OK"?
I think that's a perfect response, and kind of unbelievable considering it was the late '60's.
Another one: My dad looked kind of like a rough guy, but he was charming. One time me, my mom and my dad were taking a Greyhound to NYC (I think). For some goddamn reason, my dad had a bottle of whiskey on him...one of those flat bottles. He also had a few shot glasses. The thing is, my dad didn't drink. Virtually never. Well, he had a drink twice in the time that I had been alive (verified by my mother). The one time on this bus, and one other time when he went out with a friend of his.
We're on this bus...I remember it was loud. A lot of people talking. He pulled out this bottle, and some shot glasses and poured them. He passes a shot glass to some random guy. He said thanks, and drank it.
There were 3 nuns sitting in the proximity. He poured out a few shot glasses, held them up to the nuns, and said something like "Would you sisters like a drink"? The nuns started giggling, my mother was mortified and slapped him on the arm. Everyone started laughing, and he did the shots himself. That's probably not a big deal today, but at the time it sure seemed like it was.
To this day, I have no idea what the deal was with that whiskey.
Small memories make the best memories.
