While this memory goes back forty-six years, it was and remains one to never forget. It was Easter weekend, Easter Eve, actually if there is such a thing. Lots went on so here we go.
That Saturday night, I had five of my high school varsity baseball teammates over to the house for a poker party at our dining room table. Some guys brought snacks and we had the kitchen refrigerator filled with beer. This wasn’t high stakes gambling, just quarter ante and nobody walked away losing or winning more than twenty bucks or so. There were lots of laughs, inappropriate jokes and fun which were as much a part of the night as the card game was.
As the beers were downed, one teammate went to our phone and decided to prank call our varsity coach, Mr. Ellingsen at ten at night. When Ellingsen answered, my ball playing teammate just yelled loud into the phone then hung up. This was in the days before caller I.D. and other ways to detect anyone who prank called you. We all laughed and stopped with any more goofy calls.
Not me and my teammates, no this is Tom Cruise playing poker with pals in “Risky Business.”
Around 11:30 that night, my mom and sister came home from their middle shift at the hospital where they worked so it was time to break up the poker game. We decided to swing out to White Castle for some late night eats. The last of the beers were pulled from the fridge and off we went.
I got back home an hour later only to discover our gray tabby cat “Squeaks” caught a baby bunny rabbit outside and left it on the back porch for me to see, the bunny was decapitated. I scolded Squeaks, reported the murder to my parents then scooped up the remains and dumped it in the garbage outside.
It was time for bed and I woke up Easter Sunday to a new surprise. There was no Easter basket left for me in my bedroom! No solid chocolate bunny, no small chocolate eggs, jelly beans or even a plastic egg with a twenty dollar bill stuffed in it.
No Easter basket for me? WTH?!
Scrambling downstairs, I figured my basket might’ve been left in the living room or the dining room. Nope. No basket, anywhere. My mom and dad woke up to the sound of me asking about not getting an Easter basket. First time ever! I was more surprised than hurt. My parents were shocked that at age 18 I still expected a basket of sweets. I told them there’s no age limit or shutdown on getting such a treat. My mom had the best answer to the ‘no basket’ issue. She said, “Sorry Mick, last night Squeaks ate the Easter Bunny!”
We had another surprise coming for us. My mother was set to prepare the Easter lunch/early dinner we’d be having that day. Only one problem. The large canned ham she stored in our kitchen refrigerator was gone! She checked the freezer below it and even our spare fridge in the basement. No ham, nowhere! What the heck? How? Who? When?
Who stole my mom’s canned ham?
Apparently, one of my beer guzzling, poker playing baseball teammates stole our Easter ham the night before! It no doubt happened as they emptied the fridge of our remaining beers before we went to White Castle. I had no idea who it could’ve been and mom, dad and I just stared at each other trying to figure out what to do now. Mom wasn’t even that mad, just puzzled that our main course was gone for good.
My sister Marianne was sleeping in but the three of us were hungry and decided to make the best of things and go out to eat. We didn’t get to a local restaurant for one of those Easter buffet specials. No, instead we celebrated the resurrection of Jesus by going to our favorite out of town eatery, Stein’s Jewish Deli in nearby Lyons.
My parents favored pastrami sandwiches with sides of potato salad and such but I was a little more unconventional. My favorite offering from Stein’s was their jumbo fried shrimp. I swear each piece in the serving was almost the size of my fist. I downed my meal with French fries and a couple of cokes.
Stein’s Deli is no more but that was a great place to eat!
So, to re-cap: Beers, laughs, poker playing and a prank call to our coach. Followed by chowing down at White Castle, a dead bunny rabbit, getting shut out from a treats filled basket, a stolen ham and giant shrimp from a Jewish deli for my Easter feast. Kind of an interesting twenty-four hours, for sure.
Oh, and later that afternoon, my parents delivered to me a full blown Easter basket loaded with all the treats. The squeaky wheel might get the grease but the whiny teenager gets the Easter basket.
POSTSCRIPT: A few weeks later, I hosted my baseball buddies for a Sunday afternoon backyard barbecue. One of my teammates worked at Mc Donald’s and he liberated a full box of frozen quarter pounder beef patties from his workplace. Others brought buns and chips and I had plenty of condiments for this outing. We cooked those burgers on a Weber grill and washed them down with cold brew. And this time there was no thievery from our kitchen refrigerator.
And no, I never did find out who stole our Easter ham!
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