My Mom Didn't Win the Publisher's Clearing House
My dad was one of the smartest people I ever knew. He also possessed some of the quirkiest of quirks entirely not commensurate with his educational and professional attainments. Once, when we were visiting over the Christmas holidays, he and I got to talking about how they were financially positioned for retirement. Dad was never one to spill all the beans, so to speak, but he let me know that he and my mother would be able to enjoy the retirement they had hoped and planned for. Then, in kind of a sly aside, he said to me, "Well, it might be a whole lot better than that. Your mother is a finalist in the Publisher's Clearing House." He was so sincere and so excited, I hesitated to deliver the bad news. I, too, had received an envelope from the company, identifying me as a finalist. So had everyone during that cycle of solicitation from the Publisher's Clearing House. Gently, I said, "Oh, Dad. Maybe she will be but that's what all the letters said...