You know how almost all families tell the same stories over and over?

Sure. Well, I have wondered more than once how often newspapers show up in these tales.

Newspapers have a role in several of my own family's passed down stories.

Here's one I've always enjoyed.

My father's father died before my dad's first birthday. So my grandmother and my dad went to live with relatives.

As I recall the story, they took up residence in a big old house populated by various great aunts, uncles and what have you.

They moved to their own place before long, but often visited the home filled with relatives.

One scene played out over and over before my father's observant eyes featured a great aunt named Katherine and a long-suffering family member named David, just home from a hard day at work.

Katherine and David would be in the living room, looking at sections of the evening newspaper.

Before I go any further, I need to remind you that newsprint at that time (pre-World War II) was stiffer and more substantial than today.

Anyway, Katherine could not abide any creases in her newspaper. So she would flick each offending fold or pucker with a finger nail.

She would press a fingertip against her thumb and then let 'er rip. This made a loud sound. So being in the room while she read the newspaper meant hearing POP...POP...POP POP POP.

Well, apparently this drove David out of his mind. He would take it for as long as he could and then burst forth with "Good God, Kat!"

My father, a little boy then, evidently found this often repeated family drama amusing.

And, of course, after a modest period of silence, it would start up again.

POP...POP...POP POP POP.

This story would be dredged up now and then many years later when one of my relatives wanted to illustrate the point that nobody can bug the bejezus out of you like a family member.

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