About five years back, my father called me and said something like: "Dave, if your uncle comes over, don't let him in."
"Why not?" I queried.
"He's a little mad at you and your brother and sister because you didn't come to your grandfather's wedding."
I never thought of my uncle as being an angry or violent guy. But the seed of doubt had been planted. "Okay ... but we weren't even invited ... were we?"
"That doesn't seem to matter to him. I tried to explain, but he's still pissed. I don't know where he is."
I thanked him for the warning and hung up.
A few minutes later I realized that it was April 1st. I called my father back. "Hey that thing about Chuck ... that's not an April Fool's Gag, is it?"
Something I should say about my father: he's excellent at playing it cool when trying to prank someone. Which is why I believed him for a while when he said: "Dave, this is too serious to even joke about."
I thanked him again and hung up.
My uncle never showed up, and to this day I think that my Dad feels a little silly getting caught by me in his prank. Because yes, joking about my uncle threatening me and my brother and sister is the kind of joke my father would make.
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