A HAM PARTY

Pookie also had to laugh !

My son's best buddy was a little American boy who also was in his Kindergarten, they both were 3 or 4. The boy's grandpa was an american officer who worked at the NATO here in Brussels.
Little Patrick was the souvenir of Spanish holidays his mother had brought back, hidden in her belly. So his grandpa was his Dad. Patrick really looked like a mini Torreador, black curly hairs, burning black eyes and a temper like a volcano. I think it must have been hard for her to have this living souvenir running around in the house. I didn't have a lot of contact to her, she was a rather mousy person, completely overwhelmed by her very temperamental mother and the little son. Anne, my friend (the grandma) had married her American officer just after the liberation of France. She was french and came from Normandy.
Anne's house was open to everybody and very often looked like a dovecote. It was very big, and the main room where everybody popped in was the kitchen. It was huge ! At the big table at least 14 people could sit easily. Despite the bigness, the kitchen was a very cosy place.
One day we were invited to a little feast, because the eldest son who was also in the army but in Frankfurt (Germany) had brought a big ham from there. It was almost the whole pig leg ! As Mr. Gattino was working I went there with my little son.
I had a nice (very) short dress with the skirt full of flounces and high over the knees boots. That was very fashionable at the time. Grandpa stand in the kitchen and cut big slices of ham and everybody took its plate put a slice on and then sat in the very big living room with a nice open fire lit.
At one moment I had to go for little girls (which means the toilet). When I came back, keeping myself very straight and very proud of my new dress, people started to laugh behind me, so I turned around to see why they were laughing so hard. But when I had turned other people started to laugh too and again behind me. I really wondered what I had missed. And while I turned and turned to get at least one of these apparently so funny conversations, Anne still laughing came over to me and told me that my (short) skirt was jammed in my pants. The view they all had must have been quite special with my high boots ! I quickly pulled it out and had to laugh too what should I do else anyway.
Mr. Gattino who meanwhile had arrived looked just bored and informed the guests that things like that could only happen to his dear wife. Little son wondered why people laughed so much, he was used to worse.
In the past it looked a little better !