THE HAM PARTY

more participants at Jenny Matlock's Alphabet Thursday

My son's best buddy was a little American boy when they both were 3 or 4. The boy's grandpa was an American officer who worked at the NATO in Brussels.

Little Patrick was the souvenir of his mother's holidays in Spain, and she had brought him back home to her parents,  hidden in her belly. Patrick couldn't deny his origins, he looked like a little toreador,  black curly hairs, burning black eyes and a temper like a volcano. I think it must have been hard for his very young mother (21)  to have this living souvenir running around in the house.

I didn't have a lot of contact to her, she was a rather quiet person, completely overwhelmed by her very temperamental French mother who had become my friend as she always picked up little Patrick at the Kindergarten. She had married her American officer just after the liberation of France. She was  from Normandy.

Anne's house was open to everybody and very often looked like a dovecote. It was very big, and the main room where everybody popped in was the kitchen. It was huge ! At least 14 people could sit easily around the kitchen table, it was a very cosy place.

One day we were invited to a "ham" party, because her eldest son who was also in the army in Frankfurt (Germany) had brought an enormous ham from there.

For this occasion I wore a very short flower patterned dress, the skirt full of flounces and with that high over the knees boots. That was very fashionable in the 70th. Grandpa stand in the kitchen and cut big slices of ham and everybody took its plate got a big slice and then sat in the very huge living room around a nice open fire.

At one moment nature called and I had to go to the toilet. When I came back, keeping myself very straight and very proud of my new dress, I heard people laughing behind me. I turned around to see why they were all laughing so hard. But when I had turned to the other side,  other people started to laugh too and again behind me. I really wondered what I had missed. And while I turned and turned to get at least a clue why they were all laughing so much, Anne finally came over to me and told me that my skirt was jammed in my pants ! The view they all had must have been really funny especially with my high boots ! I quickly put my dress in place and  laughed too, the best way to make the situation less embarrassing.

Mr. G. who meanwhile also had arrived from work,  looked just bored when he heard the story and informed the guests that things like that could only happen to his dear wife and that he was very much used to such situations.





In the past it looked a little better !

Of course I have never forgotten this "Ham" Party !