Grandpa’s Words

Harry Truman was the President of the United States. Gandhi was assassinated. The cost of a first class stamp was 3 cents. The Summer Olympics took place in London, England, and the Winter Olympics in St. Moritz, Switzerland. "I Remember Mama" was one of the most popular movies.

And I was not quite 8 years old, and I was mad as a hornet!

I don’t even remember what I was mad about, but I got even, twice! And I did it by using Grandpa’s "words," words that were a big, fat NO-NO! Yes, good old fashioned sea-faring cusswords, words that nowadays would be considered mild!

I had probably been punished for something I did, a minor and unimportant detail, something that was just plain unfair! So, crayons, a big black pencil and a pad of paper in hand, I got busy. Using one page for each word, I printed out the cusswords. Several pages of each. Then I found the tape, and taped a cussword on each door, where it was obvious that everyone would see how angry I was. Point made!

My dad saw them, as did my grandmother, mother, grandfather, and probably a couple of uncles. I was vindicated. But not for long. My dad saw red. My tail end became red, from a whupping. Of course, that made me even more angry! This was just plain unfair!

So, I got even again. I found a big piece of chalk, and climbed up on the roof – pretty flat, but this was a two story house. And I printed out, in BIG BOLD LETTERS, a couple of Grandpa’s Words, on the backside of the house. Then I climbed back down, vindicated.

Not long after, the phone rang. My dad answered it. A pilot friend of his asked if he’d been up on the roof lately. Nope. Might be a good idea to go up and take a look at the artwork. My dad did. Knew the artist.

I hid in my Grandma’s feather bed, under the covers. Didn’t help. My tail end got even redder.