This is the Celebrating the Small Things blog hop, run by Lexa Cain and her two wonderful co-hosts L.G. Keltner @ Writing Off The Edge and Tonja Drecker @ Kidbits.
I remember as a little girl I always loved to watch a cartoon called 'Yogi Bear', featuring a rascally bear who lived in Jellystone park. One day my father called to my brother and me, saying that we needed to some in and watch Yogi Bear.We came pelting inside only to stand and stare at some fellow in a baseball uniform. Yogi Bear?
"That's his name," Dad said. "Well... Yogi Berra."
We grimaced in disgust (I preferred football, myself) and went back out to play.
Over the years I began to smile at the things Yogi said and, ultimately, admire him. His turns of phrase were guaranteed to make me laugh, and while people talked about it being an inherent goofiness in the fellow, I thought it was the comedic gift coming out. What is more enjoyable than watching someone pulling another's leg?
And when the AFLAC (disability insurance) ad came along featuring Yogi Berra I sat back with a grin. It's one of my all-time favorite commercials:
He was a great catcher, a great athlete, a good man...and I learned that he was one of those at the Normandy landing on D-Day The last Yogi-ism of his that I heard, just recently, was this:
I sit and I thank the good lord I was in the Navy. We ate good, clean clothes, clean bed. You see some of these Army men, what they went through, that's the one I felt for.I hadn't known. Like a lot of his generation, he did not brag. So I celebrate a good guy who made me laugh, made that AFLAC duck squawk, and quietly did his duty during the war.
Celebrations are everywhere, if you know where to look.
What are you celebrating?
What a nice tribute to your dad and Yogi Berra.
ReplyDeleteThank you for stopping by, Marilyn!
DeleteThat is a awesome story and something to remind you of your dad!!
ReplyDeleteThere is nothing like finding another dimension to someone you thought you knew about.
DeleteI can appreciate his sense of humor.
ReplyDeleteHis humor was gentle, but with a bit of a twist to it. No one was made to look stupid... Refreshing!
DeleteHi Diana - he was worth celebrating and remembering - so many of those veterans didn't say what they did, or how they coped ... through WW2 - must have been so difficult for them, and for the loved ones at home. The ad is funny though ... cheers Hilary
ReplyDeleteThank you, Hilary. Someone said 'Heroism does not need to brag.' On the other hand, I think it would be nice if we knew more about the heroes, all of them, including the people who stayed home to run things, man the watchtowers, spot planes (My mother was one). Knit blankets. (How very fortunate, in view of my knitting 'prowess' that I was not alive then.)
Delete"And they give you cash, which is just as good as money." Hahaha! Thanks for the vid - so funny! He sounds like a true humble hero. We need a lot more of that and a lot less of KimK and her booty. What is wrong with people these days? Spoiled maybe? Great post & thanks for the laugh!
ReplyDeleteNice post, Diana! My grandfather, Jim, was one of those who had stay home. He was manning the sole power station for Hastings, England, and he stayed at the station during the war, running it alone, while his wife and son (my dad) were sent away to safety in the country.
ReplyDeleteA lovely post written with true feeling - many thanks :) Special Teaching at Pempi’s Palace
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