Oddest Crossword Story Ever?

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Al Sisti
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Joined: Thu Apr 11, 2019 1:28 pm
Location: Whitesboro NY

Oddest Crossword Story Ever?

#1

Post by Al Sisti »

I think I know you all well enough now to tell you the oddest/funniest/sickest crossword story ever.

It was a little after midnight on an October night in 1992 and my two brothers and I were sitting in a dimly lit hospital room, waiting out our mother’s final night. She hadn’t as much as opened her eyes in the previous few days, and we were told that the end was imminent. Everything was quiet on the entire floor; in fact, hers was the only room that had any lights on.

We were just sitting around awkwardly, not talking, and I said “Hey, I’ve got some crossword puzzles in the car; why don’t I go get them and we can see who solves them the fastest?” So I get them and come back, and give pencils to the brothers, and we’re off!

After about five minutes of fierce competition, our youngest brother Mark was breathing heavily through his nose as he raced to beat me (ha!). But it seemed to be working; I just couldn’t concentrate with all that heavy exhalation… so I said to him “Will you stop breathing? You’re driving me crazy!”

Well, he looked at me and I at him, and all of us at our mother (who obviously had no idea what we were doing or to whom that was directed), and back at each other, until – naturally – we burst out laughing! A nurse rushed in to see why we were laughing at such a serious moment, which of course made us laugh even harder. That kept snowballing over the next few minutes as we tried again and again to regain the serious mood required by the situation, but then one of us would start snickering and then it was all raucous laughter…

The nurse peeked her head in again, probably wondering how such a beautiful woman could give birth to such callous jerks… which, of course, made us laugh even harder.

Anyway, Mom did pass about a half hour later. And although we’ll never know if she could hear us, or, if she could, did she know that we weren’t telling her to stop breathing, we were and are perfectly happy to know that, if she heard it at all, she went out hearing the beautiful sound of laughter from the boys she taught to laugh.
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Joe Ross
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Joined: Fri Apr 12, 2019 4:46 am
Location: Cincinnati

#2

Post by Joe Ross »

Had a similar experience with Mom's passing. Being 1 of 8 of her offspring, she typically had 3 or 4 of us bedside for her final three days. Her demise was Alzheimer's, which - despite being a debilitating & confusing experience for Mom - had its moments. Two sisters, my brother, and I were at her side sharing stories about Mom, respectfully & lovingly remembering her gracious & generous manner, extremely sharp, if punny, wit, how she treated every person well, and her love of crosswords & word games. Stories progressed from our earliest memories to her final year or so. It was a somber & loving tribute. One sister, who had taken Mom in for a couple of weeks before we were able to get her into a great care facility, was sharing an often told story about how Mom came out of her bedroom bare-chested, seeking help with her bra, which she was holding in her hands. Sis's husband, God bless him, was the only one home and dutifully gave Mom the help she sought. My brother, it seemed, let out a small sob at this retelling, but the other three of us, sneaking a look at him from the corners of our eyes, soon, realized that he was stifling a chuckle. He looked up at us and said, "Come on! You *know* Mom would be busting a gut right now!", which made all of us dissolve into hysterics. That brought a young nurse into Mom's room, who looked horrified, which only made us laugh that much harder. The four of us agreed to stay well away from each other at Mom's funeral Mass.
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Hidden in 3D
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Joined: Sun Nov 17, 2019 11:42 pm

#3

Post by Hidden in 3D »

Al and Joe:

I read your loving tributes to your mothers with tears in my eyes earlier this past Thanksgiving weekend. Thank you for sharing! My siblings and I also kept a bedside vigil as Alzheimer's took our saint of a mother. We shared those memories, and more, in phone calls over the last few days since the four of us are now living in three different states. I thought it was interesting that my sisters, brother and one cousin all mentioned one particularly fond "Mom-ism": the pecan pie cannot go in the oven without the baker first using two forks to flip all pecan halves right-side up! (Well, DUH! It's not Thanksgiving without Mom's pecan pie!)

By the way, I finished off the last piece of that delicious dessert for breakfast today instead of my usual overnight oatmeal. YUM!
Sara
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