One of the stories that was left out of the book because I couldn't wedge it in right had to deal with a school photo that Jeff posed for when he was in 8th or 9th grade.
During those days getting ready for school was an event as 6 kids bartered for time in the bathroom, at the breakfast table and rushing out the door. Jeff was always in the middle of all of the fun and games, and he especially liked to stir things up when other family members were still chasing away the remnants of sleep.
On the morning that Jeff's class photo was to be taken he bounced down the stairs wearing a t-shirt that read: "I'm Slow But I'm Good."
Corinne greeted him as he made his way into the kitchen and saw the shirt. "You can't wear that for your picture," she said. "Mom won't laugh."
"It's funny," he said.
Fast-forward to a few weeks later. I was sitting at the kitchen table when Mom got the proofs of the photos in the mail. All at once, she burst out laughing and her face turned a couple of shades of red as the laughter filled her up.
"What?" I asked.
"Look what that goofy sonouvabitch did," Mom said.
She handed me the photo.
Jeff's eyes were closed and the forced smile on his face looked awkward, at best, and slightly mentally deficient at worse. The camera angle had also added to the charm as his shirt was cut off after the first sentence.
Jeff's class photo was a horrible shot of him, and half his shirt that read simply: "I'm Slow."
The entire family laughed as the photo was passed around the dinner table. Mom, being as much of a class clown as the rest of us, ordered the photo package. She was going to pass them out to all of her friends!
Jeff intercepted the photos on the day they arrived and sadly there is not even one single shot of that memorable photo shoot.
Yet all of us that saw the photo are left with the reminder that he did have jokes that didn't always work out as he planned.
Submitted by Cliff Fazzolari
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