My Fine Father Makes the Leader

I’m not kidding. Read Joyce now:

My friend reminded me about the time Larry Handlin, a boy who lived on a neighboring farm, my brother, and a few other teenage boys from our rural community found a frozen skunk on their way to school one morning that had been run over. Temptation overtook them, so they slipped the frozen skunk into the big assembly hall and placed it behind one of the steam registers.

I don?t have to explain what happened as the morning went on and the skunk thawed. The boys didn?t get by with their prank, and life was quite miserable for awhile. They had detentions at school, but there was no peace at home as the parents failed to express their good country humor over the incident. They were embarrassed their sons had done such a thing.

My father is a proud and partisan Democrat by the way. As is my grandmother who probably used the switch on him even though he was a senior in high school. My Great-Grandmother Black was also a partisan Democrat and I knew her well. And my Grandfather Handlin told the story with a smile many years later–also a proud New Deal Democrat. And let me just say, using my Father as evidence of how Christian values are important is a bit, um, let’s say bizarre given his views on organized religion.

He has confirmed the story. I am distantly related to Joyce. Oh shit.