April Fools. 04/04/24

Everyone enjoys an April Fools trick, Unless they are the fool. I was describing the April Fools concept to my granddaughter at dinner and she replied, “This table is really a mushroom. April Fools.” Not bad for a 4-year old. That was until she said, “Grampa’s got long hair. April Fools’!” Grampa, as in me, is bald. I tried to explain to her that it’s not funny if it makes fun of me. Only if it makes fun of other people. That particular lesson didn’t land, since she followed up by looking at the chicken and rice dish I was eating and said, “Grampa is eating a bowl of poop.” At that point I moved onto another game. In the comic about April Fools’, Al turns out to be the fool. But that is often the case with Al. One of the best April Fools’ jokes I remember happened to me about 30 years ago. I was driving up the Major Deegan highway right past Yankee Stadium when the announcer on the radio station I was listening to proclaimed: “Donald Trump has just bought the New York Yankees and is renaming the iconic stadium, Trump Stadium.” I thought “How can you change the name of Yankee Stadium?” Until about 30 seconds later, when the disc jockey exclaimed, “April Fools’.”

Our other comic deals with Little League memories. But there’s a subtle undertone of long-term memory. It differs remarkably from short-term memory. I remember when I put my mom in an assisted living facility many years ago. She made a friend there and I took therm both out for breakfast. The friend asked me my name, if I was married, if I had children, what their names were, and where I lived. I answered each question. Then, less than a minute later, she asked me my name, if I was married… This repeated itself several times until I asked her about herself, whereupon she recalled the day she met her husband in perfect detail, an event that was 60 years in the past. Al can’t remember his grandson’s name (Bobby, Billy, whatever, close enough) but he remembered hitting a shot over the 3rd baseman’s head. Hell, he even remembered the third baseman’s name. In fact his name Jimmy Chin is based on Brian Chin, who played 3rd base on my college intramural softball team from 50-odd years ago. At least I remember the name of my partner Jack. Or is it John? But anyway, to get back to my point…what was I talking about?

Have a nice weekend and we’ll see you again next week, if we remember.

Andy and Jack, uhh John