Friday Funny - Apartment Nine

One of our family’s many “legendary family stories” includes one about my Mother teaching my older brother how to memorize his address when he was very young.  This all happened before I was born, but my Mother told it many times over the years. I was (luckily) not a first-hand witness to this challenge.

At the time this incident occurred, my family lived in Memphis at 1167 Madison, Apartment Nine. My brother was a very bright young lad, but exhibited a stubborn and willful nature even at the early age of three. My Mother spent an entire day saying the address to him over and over and asking him to repeat it to her.

“I live at 1167 Madison, Apartment Nine,” she’d say to him. He’d dutifully repeat, “I live at 1167 Madison.” But that was it. That’s all he would say. Where in the world was Apartment Nine?  He simply refused to add that part in spite of numerous attempts on her part to get him to say the entire address. Frustrated, discouraged, and quite frankly mad, my Mother finally gave up.

That night as my brother kneeled at his bedside to say his nightly prayers (a practice we both continued throughout our childhood), he began his ritual prayer. 

“Now I lay me down to sleep…in Apartment Nine.”

 

@2013 Copyright by Carla Love Maitland