Christmas Surprise
I decided to have a surprise 21st in the garden when the folks were away. Richard my 16-year-old brother got word of it and at the time his hangout was McDonough’s Pub in Dalkey where he happily spread the word.
On arrival home from the Queen’s Pub with a select group of my mates we were met with a giant group of out of it revellers who had followed Richard home from McDonough’s. Things went from bad to worse and the whole evening turned into a nightmare. When we eventually got rid of the McDonough’s crowd I walked into my parents room to find two complete strangers fast asleep in their bed.
The next morning while surveying the damage, think prize lilies lying beside the garden pond instead of sprouting proudly out of it, an antique wooden table leg strategically placed against the wall in the kitchen, which, on further examination, I discovered belonged to the antique dining room table which looked a bit lopsided and was also strategically placed against a wall.
Richard was happy to volunteer a friend who was a carpenter who came over and glued it back on. That was in August and needless to say it waited till Christmas day lunch to collapse again under the weight of the turkey. Disaster! My mother would not be convinced it was the weight of the dinner that broke it and she could see where it had been mended, that one made for an interesting Christmas afternoon…
