by David Jarvis
One of the best stories I can recall about my parents occurred was when I was in my late teens. My father acquired an ‘electric razor’. Well, what a novelty that was!
As a boy I can remember Dad always shaving in the morning, sharpening the blades on the palm of his hand each time, the shaving brush and mug, and the ‘Old Spice’, his favorite and only aftershave. This was done every day without fail. I guess being a twenty-four-hour working and on call policeman in small communities played a part in his keeping this ritual. This fact, combined with his Navy service and his own disciplined character warranted a daily shave, Saturday and Sunday included. Saturday was personal commerce day and Sunday was Church and visiting with neighbors with his wife and children as he always referred to us.
I can clearly recall us calling them Mom and Dad, and we were the ‘children’, not the ‘kids’. It was their way of showing respect for their offspring. Respect we deserved, in their minds anyway. If it we were to be referred to collectively, it was always ‘the children.’ That will
give you some idea of the times in which we lived, post war, peace, and children who were new Canadians. It was an exciting time and Mom and Dad were living it to the fullest. We were all along for the wonderful exciting ride.
But I digress! Like most Fathers of the time he was an artist at shaving and nothing started until it was completed, which was early so none of the day was wasted. Eventually we came into the modern times and a symbol of this was this ‘electric razor’. The method had changed but
the ritual had not. Some of the children had grown and left home, others were young adults still at home and by then there were even ‘Grandchildren’ not ‘Grand-Kids’, carrying on their tradition of respect for their family.
Mom and Dad never saw eye to eye on a lot of things and Mom always spoke her mind on any issue. Freedom of speech was hers she declared, and the best time to get Dads’ attention was early, while shaving, because once that was done he would be off on his business or have an opinion of his own and a good rebuttal. She wanted to avoid this at all cost and have the last word, like most women, my sisters tell me.
As children this made for some interesting times but as a young adult living home it was a
mere distraction. That is until one morning when the routine was being played out as usual.
Dad was sitting in the kitchen shaving, unheard off before the electric razor, my younger sister was going on about something, as was I. Mom was lecturing Dad about some issue that irked her, but Dad was looking at her with his chin stuck up in the air as if mocking her, which he knew was NOT the right thing to do to Mother. This just made things worse and over it all was this unceasing drone of an electric razor, bzzzzzzzzzzzz and more bzzzzzzzzzzzz. On and on it went. Dad's chin stuck up and Mom's blood pressure rising.
In the old days before the electric model arrived on the scene Dad did this in the bathroom and Mom didn't have to compete with bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz and look at that mocking looking body posture.
The twentieth century came to our house that morning and Mother didn't like what she saw.
She lost it!
"DICK! DICK! ," She yelled over the bzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzzz, (calling him by his nickname, his given name being Richard).
Shaken by this verbal attack on Dad, we all stopped our early morning complaining, talking, eating and yes, believe it or not, Dad stopped shaving. The bzzzzzzzzzzzz came to a sudden and complete end. The cat hid, the dog ran, and the birds stopped chirping. It went silent, dead silent!
Dad looked at her and, after his shock subsided, probably his biggest shock since the war ended!
He blinked and quietly said "Yes my Dear?", as if testing the waters.
"Dick," she said, "will you stop rubbing that Bumblebee over your face? I'm trying to talk to you!"
You could see the grin come across Dad's face right at the same time it started to come
across Mom's. This was followed by gales of laughter by my parents, my sister and me.
The dog and cat returned filled with curiosity I’m sure.
We had come of age over an electric razor, but it didn't diminish our sense of humor or strength as a family or anything else for that matter. It was one good belly laugh.
My father still shaves sitting in the same spot each day at 83 years of age. Mom has grown accustomed to the bzzzzzzzzzzzz and it's reassurance that we, at that moment in time years ago,
experienced something as a family not tragic but one heck of a good shared family laugh and a sense of being all in this together, come what may!
And to think this remarkable family memory came about over a simple thing such as ‘The Electric Razor!’ makes it all that much more unforgettable.
Ah, the sweet memories of youth, and the special experience of sharing a moment in time, unsurpassed, with two parents who loved each other and their family, and had the ability to laugh together with their children.
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