Author: Pat Farrand
I am Melissa’s Aunt Pat, or as she called me, A.P. Melissa was always very special to me and one of the many things I loved about her was her smile. That smile could convey so many emotions – happiness, understanding, friendship, joy, quiet contentment – the list could go on and on. But it was her mischievous smile that greeted me one afternoon many years ago.
Her mother (my sister) and I were going shopping and we left Diane and Melissa (who were teenagers) in charge of their sister Lynne and my son Chance, who was around three. When we got back, Melissa greeted me with that mischievous smile that I loved and gave me some news. “Hey, A.P., I taught Chance a little poem while you were out. Want to hear it?” Being the proud mother I said, “Of course!” Chance marched up to me and said, “I am funny, I tell joke, I go pee pee in your Coke”, at which point the girls collapsed in laughter and I just stood there horrified. What had Melissa done to my innocent baby? The more the girls laughed, the more Chance kept saying “Pee pee Coke, pee pee Coke.” It took me months to get him to stop saying that to any stranger he encountered! It took me a little longer to see the humor in it! I promised Mel that paybacks were hell and that when she had a son I was going to teach that “poem” to him. I never did. If you know Chance, and see him, don’t tell him I shared this story!
