“It’s a Good One.”

When our oldest son was an infant, I would hold a spoonful of baby food in front of his mouth, smile my most radiant smile and say, “It’s a good one.”

I learned this, of course, from watching Princess Pennie.

Later that spring I was sitting across from him when he pulled a lollipop from his mouth, pressed it against my lips and said, “It’s a good one.” Pennie and I laughed until we had tears streaming down our cheeks.

I don’t pretend my story is unusual. Every parent has a hundred like it. The weird part is that Pennie and I still use that phrase every day and have been doing so for more than a third of a century.

When we’re headed out to something we’ve been looking forward to, “It’s a good one,” is an exclamation of anticipation. When we’re leaving an event we enjoyed, “It’s a good one,” is a declaration of satisfaction. When we’re having a great time, “It’s a good one,” is a reminder to capture that moment and tuck it safely away in the treasure chest of the heart so that we might relive it on a rainy day.

The creation of private jargon is one of the benefits of marrying your best friend.

Do you have a private jargon understood by only the people closest to you? If you don’t, I encourage you to capture a phrase the next time everyone is laughing. It will be there, dancing in the air for as long as the laughter continues. Just reach up and snatch it. The only permission you need is your own.

Private phrases make wonderful pets.

Another interesting thing that happened that spring – and I mention it only because today is April 1st – is that my friend Cheerful Charlie gave me a strange new Bible because he thought I’d find it interesting. And I did.

It was called The Reese Chronological Bible. It had all the same verses as every other Bible, but they were radically rearranged in what was purported to be chronological order. According to Reese, our universe was spoken into existence on an April 1st and Jesus was born in Bethlehem on another April 1st, many years later. Reese claimed that early Christians celebrated Jesus’ birth on April 1st and were consequently mocked by their detractors as “April Fools.”

You heard what I said about it being “a strange new Bible,” right?

There was no way to know whether Reese’s theories were true, and it didn’t really matter anyway, but Charlie knows that I’m always willing to lend an ear when someone challenges traditional wisdom.

The part that fascinated me is that no one knows the origin of April Fool’s Day. History.com has this to say, “Although April Fools’ Day, also called All Fools’ Day, has been celebrated for several centuries by different cultures, its exact origins remain a mystery.”

Reese’s theories got so little traction that it’s almost impossible to find online references to him. But even if Reese was wrong, spring has sprung, birds are flirting, squirrels are chattering, and the flowers are strutting their stuff.

But maybe, just maybe, Reese was right.

And if so, “Merry Christmas.”

Roy H. Williams