Building Family with Shtinky Puddin’, Earl and Mooch

I didn’t grow up watching sports with Dad.

He’s lucky I remember who the Bears are (that’s basketball, right?).

But I don’t think I was too much of a disappointment, as I grew up doing something far more important: co-narrating the antics of Patrick McDonnell’s Earl and Mooch.

After all, a football (had you fooled with the basketball comment, didn’t I?) wouldn’t have gone far in my hands, but perfecting the fine art of impersonating a cat who “shnubs” dinner?

Priceless. And a real resume-filler.

The secret, by the way, is perfecting the “shn.”

Some fateful day our Papi took out a slightly worn copy of Mutts. A legacy was born.

Like true dramatists, we had assigned parts.

Papi’s recurring role as Earl, the simple, loving and straightforward dog who loves his bachelor-owner Ozzie even more than he loves walks. His talents were best showcased, however, in curmudgeonly Frank.

I played Earl’s counterpart Mooch the cat, who turns his nose up at dinner without fail and whose shenanigans tend to move the plot along. I think I am best remembered for the role of a wee tabby cat lovingly monikered Shtinky Puddin’. (It was the squeaky kid’s voice that lent itself so naturally to a kitten’s.)

Every so often, a little time after dinner would be set aside and we would join our favorite cartoon animals, as they “hibernated” through winter days and asked questions of the almighty Shphinx.

It may not sound like much, but for us, Mutts was home, friendship, and love. I didn’t know Papi from birth. We met when I was seven, not long before he asked my mom to marry him – which was only a day before we kids were asked for our permission.

So the great Mutts recitations were more than time with the ol’ man. They were the part of the foundation of our friendship.

Mooch and Earl (and Shtinky!) grew to be members of the family about the time we became one.

Thanks for teaching me the perfection of “alminal” accents and the art of hitting a punchline, Papi.

And thanks for all the reading.

Yesh.