Happy Belated Father's Day

Yesterday was Father's Day. A day mostly spent BBQing Drunken Brats and steaks, making all different kinds of salads, and splashing around in the pool when it wasn't raining. A nice, relaxing day.

It also brings a memory to me of my first rated R movie. It was my father who took me to my first rated R movie. And to this day, it is one of his favorite stories to tell about the two of us.

I was only in third grade. Since both my parents worked and I was too young to be a latch-key kid, I went to a babysitter's apartment everyday. On this fateful day, my father happened to be home and decided to pick me up and take me and the babysitter's daughter to the movies.

We were supposed to see Muppets Take Manhattan. A good, clean, family, child friendly movie. When we walked up to the ticket booth, I was surprised to hear my Dad ask for three tickets to see Stripes.

"But, Dad!!" I gasped. "That's rated R!!"

My dad shushed me and purchased the tickets, then ushered us into the theater. I'm pretty sure as the idea of seeing a forbidden rated R movie dawned upon me, a big grin crept up on my face. I was so curious. Intrigued. A bit nervous yet excited. I felt like I was in on this huge plot...being let in on a forbidden secret of the adult world...breaking a law of some sort. It was so reckless!!!

I remember the excitement more than the movie itself. I vaguely remember something with Bill Murray, the Army, and an RV?? I just remember sitting up in the balcony (which was the smoking section of course!) and being just giddy and delighted that I was in a rated R movie. Something I just KNEW my mother would frown up!!

When the movie was over I have a very distant memory of my father taking me for pizza. I remember him taking the movie section of the newspaper out and pointing to an ad. Cute little puppets adorned the ad with the movie's show times underneath.

"If your mother asks, you tell her we saw Muppets Take Manhattan," he said sternly. He's German and Irish, so his stern look can be very scary to a child. I nodded with wide eyes as pulled the stringy mozzarella from my mouth.

And then we went home. And my mother looked over me and smiled.

"How was the movie?", she asked.

My father glared at me from behind her. I put on a big smile, took a deep breath, and then blurted out....

"Daddy took us to see Stripes and it was rated R!!!!!"

Sorry, Dad. Your German/Irish stern looks and glares might be scary, but I just couldn't lie to the devout Italian Catholic. She had God on her side!!

I'm pretty sure there was a lot of yelling and screaming. All coming from my mother as my father hung his head. I think it took about twenty years before my father ever trusted me again. Till this day he tells this story and tells everyone what a big mouth I have. But he tells the story with a chuckle and not a stern look.

When he tells the story he claims he had every intention of taking us to see Muppets Take Manhattan. He swears we were too late to the Muppet flick, so he took us to see Stripes. I think he just did not want to sit through two hours of singing sock puppets. To be honest....neither did I.