Mom's sense of humor

Me Pops was well known for his sense of and good humor. That would not stop me Mom from sometimes playing a trick or two on him.

One time as they made their way home from a fast food restaurant, Pops stopped at a party store for whatever. While he was inside, Mom took a bite out of a hamburger and re-wrapped it. She stuck it in the bag but made sure he got it at home. He sputtered and stammered and was ready to run back to demand an explanation, refund, and whatever else he might force the restaurant manager's hand to do before Mom fessed up and took the burger she'd bitten for herself. Pops thought it was funny...several days later.

Another time he picked up pizza. Unbeknownst to him, one of the boxes (he had bought I believe three pizzas that day) was left empty. It was sheer inadvertence, and the pizzeria (Audia's, which I've spoken about recently) called before he had gotten back home to apologize and explain that they were sending a pizza by their delivery driver. Mom took the call yet didn't tell Dad.

At home at the kitchen table, he opened the empty pizza box. His jaw dropped in shock and surprise. But then the doorbell rang and one of us kids fetched the pizza before Mom could have much fun out of the situation.

That one me Pops did find immediately funny, perhaps because he hadn't time to get upset. Plus he knew the Audia family and knew they were good people and that it was a simple if silly mistake.

Audia's

As I made my way down I-75 early today on my way to Springfield, Ohio and the Electric Eel plant, I passed the Clark Street exit. Now, I don't know about you, but for me the Clark Street exit does, has, and always will mean one thing.

Audia's Pizza.

You took the Clark exit to Junction, then a right on Junction to Porter and there you were: Audia's. We got our pizza from them for years. It had thick, gooey cheese and those little pepperonis which curled up when the baked, letting the oils pool inside them. In other words, real pepperoni. And the pizzas always came in those large brown wax paper bags. Okay, one would be in a box, and the one in the paper would sit on that.

Whenever I was the one sent to pick them up, then 12 minute ride home was almost torture, waiting to sink my teeth into that pizza. Maybe it just tastes so good in my memory because I'm sentimental, but man, it was good.

Audia's was a mom and pop place and they were both disappointed that, when they decided to retire, none of their seven kids wanted to take it over. They were swell people as well as great pizza makers.

I never pass the Clark exit without thinking about them. And their pizza.