1:This was an article submitted to a 1999 Louisville Sentinel contest to find out who had the wildest Christmas dinners ... It won first prize. As a joke, my brother Jay used to hang a pair of panty hose over his fireplace before Christmas. He said all he wanted was for Santa to fill them. What they say about Santa checking the list twice must be true because every Christmas morning, although Jay's kids' stockings overflowed, his poor pantyhose hung sadly empty. One year I decided to make his dream come true. I put on sunglasses and went in search of an inflatable love doll. They don't sell those things at Wal-Mart. I had to go to an adult bookstore downtown. If you've never been in an X-rated store, don't go. you'll only confuse yourself. I was there an hour saying things like, 'What does this do?' 'You're kidding me!' 'Who would buy that?' Finally, I made it to the inflatable doll section. I wanted to buy a standard, uncomplicated doll that could also substitute as a passenger in my truck so I could use the car pool lane during rush hour. Finding what I wanted was difficult. 'Love Dolls' come in many different models. The top of the line, according to the side of the box, could do things I'd only seen in a book on animal husbandry. I settled for 'Lovable Louise.' She was at the bottom of the price scale. To call Louise a 'doll' took a huge leap of imagination. On Christmas Eve and with the help of an old bicycle pump, Louise came to life. My sister-in-law was in on the plan and let me in during the wee morning hours. Long after Santa had come and gone, I filled the dangling pantyhose with Louise's pliant legs and bottom. I also ate some cookies and drank what remained of a glass of milk on a nearby tray. I went home, and giggled for a couple of hours. The next morning my brother called to say that Santa had been to his house and left a present that had made him VERY happy, but had left the dog confused. She would bark, start to walk away, then come back and bark some more. We all agreed that Louise should remain in her pantyhose so the rest of the family could admire her when they came over for the traditional Christmas dinner.
My grandmother noticed Louise the moment she walked in the door. My brother quickly explained, 'It's a doll.' 'Who would play with something like that?' Granny snapped. I kept my mouth shut. 'Where are her clothes?' Granny continued. 'Boy, that turkey sure smells nice, Gran,' Jay said, to steer her into the dining room. But Granny was relentless. 'Why doesn't she have any teeth?' Again, I could have answered, but why would I? It was Christmas and no one wanted to ride in the back of the ambulance saying, 'Hang on Granny, hang on!' My grandfather, a delightful old man with poor eyesight, sidled up to me and said, ' Hey, who's the naked gal by the fireplace?' I told him she was Jay's friend. A few minutes later I noticed Grandpa by the mantel, talking to Louise. Not just talking, but actually flirting. It was then that we realized this might be Grandpa's last Christmas at home. The dinner went well. We made the usual small talk about who had died, who was dying, and who should be killed, when suddenly Louise made a noise like my father in the bathroom in the morning. Then she lurched from the mantel, flew around the room twice, and fell in a heap in front of the sofa. The cat screamed. I passed cranberry sauce through my nose, and Grandpa ran across the room, fell to his knees, and began administering mouth-to-mouth resuscitation. My brother fell back over his chair and wet his pants. Granny threw down her napkin, stomped out of the room, and sat in the car. It was indeed a Christmas to treasure and remember. Later in my brother's garage, we conducted a thorough examination to decide the cause of Louise's collapse. We discovered that Louise had suffered from a hot ember to the back of her right thigh. Fortunately, thanks to a wonder drug called duct tape, we restored her to perfect health. I can't wait until next Christmas. |
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Join us for World Polio Day as global health experts and partners share our progress on the road to polio eradication. Visit the Rotary International Facebook page to watch with other end polio supporters.
moreOn Saturday 23rd September Bournemouth East Cliff Rotary Club hosted a concert featuring The Boscombe Salvation Army Band and The Moonlight Swing Band at Christchurch Priory in aid of the BH1 Project. Please click on details to see the review.
moreGiacomo Rastelli is a lecturer in Chiropractic at AECC in Bournemouth and graduated in 2011 from the Welsh Institute of Chiropractic. Welcome Giacomo!
moreHundreds, yes, HUNDREDS, of children in Bournemouth, Christchurch and Poole are disadvantaged and will have few presents this Christmas.
moreOn Tuesday 29th August two members of East Cliff Rotary Club built a shelter at the BH1 Project Drop in Center.
moreOn Thursday 1st February we had the pleasure of inducting David Ryan and Bob Lawton as members of our club.
moreOn this page you will find some of the awards, achievements and presentations received by the club and its members and made by the club to other charities, businesses and organisations.
moreHere you will find some letters of thanks from the charity's we support and from our sponsors
moreHere you will find photographs of our social events
moreBelow are some of the articles East Cliff Rotary have had published in the Media
moreA little bit of humour from some of our members
moreThis page contains information about children we sponsor in Ecuador
moreA very interesting and enjoyable assortment of meetings and events
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