#66 Nostralgia

I am getting nostralgic. Yes, you read that correctly. For all of Eric’s academic accomplishments, there are some under-achievements that will always make me laugh. Like when he told us he was feeling nostralgic. I tried to put that in as a quote in my high school yearbook, but the editors “fixed” my apparent typo.

Then there was the time we were driving down the highway and Eric wanted to go to a store he saw. It took us a while to realize that he meant the furniture store Ethan Allen because he was saying it with a short e. Once he realized it was a furniture store he didn’t want to go anymore.

Another time we were in Friendly’s (a great ice cream store, one thing I truly miss about the Northeast), and Eric spotted a type of ice cream he thought he might want to try. It was green and he had always liked that color. He asked for some Pistach-I-o walnut.

The best mispronunciation, however, took place when we were visiting Epcot Center at Disney World in Florida. I think I was around 10, so Eric would have been around 7. We had dinner in the “Spain” restaurant. It was really well done. We knew we were inside, but it looked like we were outside. The ceiling was painted black with recessed fairy lights twinkling like stars. The wait staff was all dressed appropriately and the menus were in Spanish. It had been a great day at Disney World and we were all still getting along and having a nice family dinner.

At some point during dinner Eric had to go to the bathroom. When he came back to the table he announced in his high little voice boy, loud enough for almost everyone in the restaurant to hear, “Mom, you’re a damn ass.” There was a long moment of silence before someone figured out he meant damas, the Spanish word for lady, that he had seen written on the door of the ladies room.

The laughter that followed has been repeated at many a family get together as we told and re-told that story and the others.