Down and Dirty !

I'm 49 years old now. Dropping my daughter at mma class tonight, she and I were chit chatting about some silly ole thing as we do from time to time, and my mind flashed back to when I was about 3 or 4 years old. I was with my two older brothers visiting my papa and gramma in Chicago where they lived prior to moving down to be with us in Florida several years later. Then, during this visit, it was my Papa's turn to play his silly card, as he was teaching my bros and I poker. Seemed like a pretty boring game, if you asked this 4 year old, that is, until my Papa livened things up for me. "Joey, Yussela!" as he so endearingly would call me. "You'll like this part." In hindsight, he liked that line and used it to keep my attention on several other occasions. Working on a crossword puzzle at the kitchen table, "Yussela, I've got one for ya. You'll know the answer to this one."
But in this poker game, he said, "When we deal the last card of poker, we say, 'Down and Dirty!!!"  "Like this, Papa?!" as squealed as loud as I could, Down and Dirty!" slapping my hand hard down on the rug. He laughed roaringly, as I continued to perform for him with my "Down and Dirty!" antics, over and over as he laughed each and every time.   He and I never tired of this game of Papa and Yussela love exchange. Down and Dirty!
Where does the child end and adult begin in this back and forth. As I remember that childish day of play and how I am the silly daddy to my teen age kids, their embarassment at times, and their acceptance at other times. As I move through time and space and reflect on where I am today, where I came from and where, I, in such a short time will be, I am grateful for the many moments of laughter that was and is to come.