World Famous Freddy
Our family had a fifth member. His name was Freddy (Ferda in Czech). He joined the family when Peter and Ellen were toddlers. Marie had seen him in a drugstore when she was out shopping. She liked his goofy face and thought, “The kids will enjoy that.” So she brought him home.
However, Freddy’s destiny was not to become a children’s toy. Instead, Frank got hold of him. And the rest, as they say, is history.
Freddy became a sort of court jester, a prankster, a joker, a little rascal, an imp and a never-ending source of laughter. Frank would be sitting and calmly putting tobacco in his pipe, and Freddy would grab the pipe, turn it around and stuff it into Frank’s mouth, bowl first. Frank would pick up a glass of water and try to take a drink; Freddy would bop the bottom of the glass and spill water on him. Frank would get his handkerchief out to wipe off the water and blow his nose; in the middle of blowing his nose, Freddy would yank the handkerchief out of his hand. He would take hold of Frank’s necktie and swing back and forth on it. He would get scolded, but he would talk back. He would get punished, but Peter and Ellen would invariably come to his rescue. Freddy was the children’s hero. He was able to get away with things that they could never get away with.
At bedtime, Freddy’s solemn duty was to help tuck the children in. Frank would pull the blankets up over them, saying “Blanket on!” Whereupon Freddy would pull the blankets back off again, saying “Blanket off!” Bedtime was a massive giggle-fest.
Over the years, whenever Frank traveled, he always took Freddy with him. Freddy entertained the children (and many times the adults even more) all over the world. He turned many difficult or boring moments into happy memories for complete strangers.
Many years later, Frank concluded that Freddy was his alter ego. He confessed: “Freddy does and says things that I would do and say myself, if I weren’t afraid of what the nice ladies of polite society would say about me.”
