I Owe My Life to: Beer

It's true. Though not in the way you might think. I am not the result of beer goggles or such related exercises. It is not because either of my parents were particularly indulgent with the beverage that made Milwaukee famous, but rather that one of their friends happened to desire the foamy treat. Let me explain.

First, I seem to always mess up some details when I try to tell stories for which I was not actually present (or from when I was very little). Check the little indians section for corrections from Mommy. And now, as I remember it being told to me, the story of why my sisters and I owe our lives to beer.

Mommy grew up at attending a Catholic church and school in Bay View called St. Augustine's. Like all good South-side Catholic churches, St. Augustine's had a festival every summer. Auggie's Fest attracted people from all over the neighborhood for food, beer, and I assume some bingo. Thus, it would not be unusual for people to run into other people they knew.

It was a few short years after high school; Mommy and Daddy hadn't seen each other in a long time, and she was wandering around at Auggie's Fest. She ran into Frank, a friend of hers from high school, who noticed she looked a bit down. She told him there was someone she'd like to see. Frank said, "I bet I can get him here." Mommy didn't think he could, so she made the bet - two pitchers or beer if Frank could get him there. Frank went to use a phone (no cell phones back in the day).

Some blocks away, Daddy was heading out the door of his house. The phone rang. He stopped and went back inside to get it. Frank told Daddy he was at Auggie's Fest and said, "there's someone here who wants to see you." Daddy didn't even need to ask who. He just headed to the festival.

And then...

Mommy walked away with Daddy; Daddy walked away with Mommy, and Frank walked away with his two pitchers of beer!