Laugh With Us Blog

Family, food, and travel!

  • Home
  • Family
    • My Man
    • Kids
      • Faith
      • Joy
      • Grace
      • Little Jason
      • Bobby
    • Homeschooling
    • Parenting
    • Marriage
    • Funny
  • Food
  • Travel
    • Alaska
    • Arizona
    • California
    • Cruising
    • Florida
    • Indiana
    • Israel
    • Kansas
    • Kentucky
    • Minnesota
    • New Mexico
    • New York
    • North Carolina
    • Oklahoma
    • Texas
  • Contact
  • About Me
    • Privacy Policy
  • Promotional

The Peeping Tom

This is one of those family stories that I loved to hear over and over through the years.  I asked my mom Frieda if she would share it with you.  Enjoy!

When Hal and I had been married about a year (1962), we drove from where we lived in Oklahoma to Long Beach, California, to visit my Uncle Grady and his family for about a month. Uncle Grady was a Southern Baptist pastor, and he had invited Hal to preach in a lot of churches. My uncle and aunt and cousin lived in a small two-bedroom, one-bathroom frame house. There was a whole suburb of almost identical houses of the type built right after World War II. The garages were free-standing behind the houses in the back yards. As the family often had invited guests, Uncle Grady turned the garage into a bedroom, and that is where we slept when we stayed with them.

One evening at bed time, Hal started for the garage bedroom while I was still in the bathroom brushing my teeth before going out to bed.  When he stepped out the back door, he saw a big man standing outside my cousin’s bedroom window, peering between the curtains.  As he told me later, he yelled and took off running after the man, whom he describes as being about six feet tall and weighing some 200 pounds.  (After hearing Hal’s side of the story for nearly fifty years, it only recently occurred to me to ask him what he would have done had he caught the guy.)  The man crashed through the neighbor’s back yard fence, across the yard out to the sidewalk, and kept running.  Hal was close behind him, continuing to scream at the top of his strong evangelistic voice, thinking someone would come to help him.  At the end of the block, the man jumped in a car and sped away before Hal could catch him.

Hal turned around, expecting to see lights on in all the houses and people rushing out to see what was happening. What he saw was a perfectly quiet street with dark houses and not a soul in sight.

When Hal came back in the house, I was still standing rooted to the spot with my toothbrush in my hand. It seemed to him he had been gone a very long time, but in the house we just heard a blood-curdling scream that started at the back door and went down the block. I don’t really know what I thought, but I was paralyzed with fright. My aunt and uncle and cousin, like me, just stood wherever they were in the house terrified. Hal couldn’t believe everyone just stood around and no one tried to help him. When things calmed down, Uncle Grady said all he could think was, “Frieda’s husband has lost his mind right here at my house—what’ll I ever do?”

We reported the incident to the police, and they came and made a report. Their helpful advice was, “It is better not to shoot anyone unless he is actually inside your house, but if you did shoot him in the yard, you should drag him in the house before you call the police.”

Esther

Related Posts

  • Adventures in DonutsAdventures in Donuts
  • The Feed TrailerThe Feed Trailer
  • A Snake in the HouseA Snake in the House
  • First Boyfriend: Funny MomentsFirst Boyfriend: Funny Moments
  • Funny Family StoriesFunny Family Stories
  • Funny Fundraiser StoriesFunny Fundraiser Stories

12 Comments Filed Under: Uncategorized Tagged: funny

Comments

  1. Mari says

    April 17, 2012 at 7:24 am

    HAHAHAHA! That is fabulous advice from the police. I’ll keep that in mind.

    Reply
  2. brandi says

    April 17, 2012 at 9:48 am

    What crazy advice from the police!

    This story had me laughing so hard!

    Reply
  3. shari lynne @ Faith Filled Food For Moms and Grandmothers says

    April 17, 2012 at 11:03 am

    Too Funny!! LOL
    Blessings!

    Reply
  4. Angel says

    April 17, 2012 at 12:58 pm

    Bwhahah I am glad he didn’t catch the guy, but wish the police had. here in Ky they only have to be on your property with the threat of harm to be able to defend

    Reply
  5. Robin says

    April 17, 2012 at 3:32 pm

    That is a funny story – you know how much I enjoy all your blogposts, Frieda – keep them coming.

    Reply
  6. Michelle says

    April 17, 2012 at 4:39 pm

    Oh my…that is just scarey advice!

    Reply
  7. Sonia says

    April 17, 2012 at 8:34 pm

    Too funny..:-)

    Reply
  8. Making Our Life Matter says

    April 19, 2012 at 12:15 pm

    Oh boy, such interesting advice. Thanks for the giggle 😀

    Reply
  9. Donna says

    April 19, 2012 at 5:09 pm

    What a story! I lived in an apartment where the neighbors caught a peeping tom. Good for your husband. What a hobby some people have.

    Reply
  10. Tiffany says

    April 20, 2012 at 4:05 pm

    Interesting advice from the police! 😉

    Reply
  11. Jennifer says

    April 21, 2012 at 10:08 pm

    Now that is quite the advice! Peeping Tom’s are so weird!!!

    Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Hi! We believe laughter is the best medicine. Join in with us as we share our family laughs, fun with food, and love of travel. Great to meet you! Esther Irish




Favorite Posts

  • 25 Random Things About Me
  • The Hardest Year of My Life
  • Joy's Christmas Concert
  • My Bright Idea
  • Losing My Baby
  • A Bug in My Shirt
  • Why I don't fly with kids

Archives

© 2010 - 2023 · All rights reserved by Esther Irish · Privacy Policy · Log in

Copyright © 2023 · Laugh With Us Blog on Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in