Father knows best, right? Or at least so the saying goes. Even if it’s a twist on that saying, like the headline over Gary Xavier’s “Life Lines” column to the left: Father knew best.
I also hope you had the opportunity to read Michael J. Fitzgerald’s “Write On” column in Friday’s Finger Lakes Times about the influence that his father had on him even though he passed over six decades ago.
This weekend we celebrate the dads in our lives, and though I’m not ready to concede that my father always knew best, I will say that he seemed to know an awful lot about donkeys, at least.
Dad’s name also was Mike, and whenever the two of us were together with another man named Mike (making three, if you’re scoring at home), he would say, “We need one more Mike and then we can baptize a donkey!”
I honestly never knew — and still don’t — where that saying came from or if it was just from Dad’s imagination. I thought perhaps it was an old Italian saying, but I can’t find any reference to it anywhere. I’ve googled “four Mikes” and “baptizing a donkey” and even “goofy sayings about donkeys.” Nothing.
If you don’t believe me, go ahead and try. I’ll wait …
Nothing? I figured.
(And yes, in case you are wondering, there were times over the years when we actually did have FOUR Mikes gathered in one place, and I would say to Dad, “Hey, how........