SURFING SOAPBOX: He stands corrected on point of family honor

It’s not very often that my memory fails me, and to be quite honest, I would be more than happy to argue the point. If it wasn’t for my mom, and my dad backing her up, it’s an almost unwinnable debate that would be better off not seeing the light of day again.

Well except for right here, for all Laguntics to read in the “Surfing Soapbox.” Because what is life without a little humor in it? A boring one, and I’ll be the first to admit there’s plenty of humor that goes on at the Pribram household. MySpace was a hot topic the other week. Local politics. Memory loss. Dead batteries (definitely no pun intended) that need recharging; no, not my parents’ batteries, rather in my dad’s car.

I’m pretty comfortable telling you that the two of us don’t know much when it comes to cars. We’re lucky just getting the jumper cables right. In fact, once we didn’t and it sent sparks flying.

I would tell you that it was only last week that my so-called error or lack of memory created lavish sparks again but then that would be untrue. It was worse. Way worse. Not only was my mom speaking in her old Belfast accent and referring to me as “Jamie,” but my dad was also on her side.

Umm, I’m going to leave that last sentence alone.

Well, I’ll get to the point now because I know you’re all waiting to hear what my mistake was — and it was a big one. It’s not often I show up at my parents house and the first words out of my mom’s mouth are “Jamie, you were wrong. It wasn’t your grandmother, she was the sweetest and most caring woman in the world. It was your grandfather, you boob.”

And therein lies the problem. I had referred to my grandmother as the one who had given me a jaw-busting scolding for giving a couple of schillings to a homeless man, when I was 7 in Oxford.

For the sake of my better judgment I am not going to argue who it was. Because if my mom tells me it was my grandfather, then it was. Because sometimes in life one’s eyes say more than spoken words ever can and I know from judging my mother’s eyes that day that my grandmother was the nicest and most caring woman in the world. Just like my mom is to me. Peace.

JAMES PRIBRAM is a Laguna Beach native, professional surfer and John Kelly Environmental Award winner. His websites include AlohaSchoolofSurfing and ECOWarrior Surf.com. He can be reached at Jamo@Aloha SchoolofSurfing.com