The Origin of Nutsy Fagan

My dad is long gone now. It will be 17 years this Christmas.  There isn't enough room here to tell you how unbelievable he was or what he means to me.  He was kind, FUNNY, affectionate, smart, athletic and I adored him.  I miss him.

There are five children in my family.  My brother and I are the youngest and my dad used to call us "The Cherubs".  My other nicknames were Nusty Fagan and Bo, both terms of endearment.  I was a nutty child.  I rarely wore everyday clothes.  I wore "outfits".  These were actually costumes or a bathing suit.  There is a photo of me on the teeter totter in a bathing suit and an old fashioned stocking hat.  My brother was riding with me in a snowsuit.  The photo is dated November 1965.  The home movies show me mostly in a ruffled petticoat slip, wool knee socks and my sister's toe shoes or....a bathing suit.  Legend has it that I didn't really like clothes at all.  Our neighbors found me naked in their garage when I was 3.  You get the idea.  If you are old enough to remember the old Mr. Clean adds, I was often referred to as "The White Tornado".

I've settled down some since childhood, but I can still kick up some dust. 

I began my life in a typical 1950's tract house neighborhood.  There were easily over 100 children on our block.  It was like a giant family.  Our parents partied together and became best friends.  We had parades, BBQ's and the mom's even arranged a Beauty Pageant (complete with "crystal" perfume bottles for the prizes) in our backyard.  My mother has every single minute on film.  Good God, she was devoted.  There were reels and reels of film.  They're wonderful to watch.  Mostly embarassing for me, but wonderful for everyone else.  I'm dancing on a picnic table in a little pair of madras shorts.  I'm doing the Doobie Dance from Romper Room.  When I turned around, clapping my hands furiously, my little shorts are soaked because I've wet them....My parents showed this at parties for years.  I spent a lot of time hiding under the piano bench.  In another clip, I'm in a bathing suit and rubbing against a table.  Extremely funny, even for me now, but when I was younger I would look at this and think, "Holy shit, what was WRONG with me??????"  I've turned out fine.  At least I think so.  You be the judge as we roll along. 

tags: family  humor  home  movies