magic memories

My dad has always done magic tricks. Whether it was as a hobby, for fun to trick his friends and co-workers or to draw kids in during children's church he has done magic my entire life! Ash has recently taken quite an interest in magic and when a magician came to his school at the end of last year and did a magic show at a school assembly Ash came home very excited and describing trick after trick. I recognized some of those tricks and knew my dad could do them. With my parents coming into town in the coming months I called them and insisted that dad HAD to bring his "bag-o-tricks" with him to Oklahoma to impress the grand kids!

One summer afternoon, it was finally time for Grampa Mike to put on the highly anticipated magic show! The kids were so excited that it was like it's own form of magic to watch them! They were giggly, eager and all smiles!

Grampa Mike impressed the kids with trick after trick and I have to admit...he pulled a couple of new tricks out that even took me by surprise! At one point, Grampa Mike called Maddox up as a volunteer to help with a rope trick. At first he handed Maddox a pair of oversized, plastic scissors to try to cut the rope. Obviously, that didn't work so Grampa Mike gave him a pair of "real" scissors...

Unbeknownst to Maddox, these quote-unquote "real scissors" were in fact TRICK scissors and while Grampa Mike could make them work every time Maddox would try and cut with them they would stay stuck in the open position! Ha! Maddox thought it was hilarious and could not for the life of him figure out why he couldn't work the scissors!

After an afternoon of tricks and trickery the kids were satisfied and in awe! I'd say the magic show was a success! I have to interject here, though, and say that as my dad was setting up for this dazzling show of magic he called me in to help him. Now...let me preface this by saying that my entire life my dad has just LOVED to play tricks on his daughters. Whether he's tricking us into eating chocolate covered bugs, hiding behind trees and jumping out at night or convincing us to "help" him with something that ultimately embarrassed us to no end my dad is the master of practical jokes! Today was no different. As he unloaded his literal bag of tricks he pulled out a package of flash paper. If you don't know what that is, flash paper is small sheets of thin paper that when lit on fire burn up instantly giving the effect of a hot flash of fire without any real burn. They are used in a variety of tricks. My dad pulled out a sheet of flash paper and said "here, hold this while I test it out..." I was skeptical to say the least and at first told him "NO WAY!" and walked away laughing. Dad convinced me, though, that he truly needed me to do this and was adamant that this was NO TRICK! I tentatively held out my hand as my dad laid the flash paper in my palm. Dad lit the flash paper and "WHOOOOSH!"...kind of.

The flash paper didn't burn up as fast as it was supposed to and "OUCH!" burnt my hand a little. It was really no big deal at all but it did hurt! I immediately screamed and then laughed as I yelled at my dad "I KNEW IT! I KNEW IT!" My dad laughed and apologized profusely. His only explanation was "that flash paper must have been old..." Oh dad. You never cease to amaze me! Ha!

It does something to the ooey gooey part of me deep down inside to see my dad impressing MY kids with magic just like he has done me and my sisters all of our lives. It's a bundle of nostalgia and emotions that I cannot put into words. The progression of time and the passing of memories from generation to generation is beautiful...even in something as seemingly small as a magic trick.