A Wise Chips Postscript

The only person who guessed that Tom Rennell was my team mate on that 1963 Wise Chips team was my mother. That includes Tom's wife Carol about whom I have a funny story that I now shall tell.  Tom remembered that we used to get a whole box of Wise Chips $.25 bags after every game from the local distributor,and that this was one of the perks of having them as our sponsor.  Another was that the sponsor had a swimming pool and we were periodically invited over to his house as the summer progressed.  Dad had also made the brilliant choice of selecting the sponsor's son out of the draft in the summer of 1962 to play for the team, so the benefits continued to accrue!

Now, the story about Carol.  A couple of years after my parents bought their new house on Broad Street I came along as did another young couple--the Egans.  The Egan's were looking for a place to live and the Lavalleys had a big house with plenty of room available for a tenant, and so a match was made and they moved into the "spare apartment." They had a young daughter at the time named Carol, and the both of us combined to a hefty 12-14 months old.  So, during certain nap times, Carol and I were often put down in the crib together--and yes, we did sleep together.  Fast forward about 50-55 years to a short visit I paid to the happily married Tom and Carol where their daughter was also visiting.  And I was introduced to their daughter as "the first guy Mom ever slept with."  In fairness, it only took a few moments for their beautiful young daughter to figure out that there must have been a monkey wrench in that stew.  But the look of pure "EEEEeeuuuwww!!!" that graced her features for no more than a split second was a reward of its own.