I grew up with my four siblings in a home full of laughter, fun, and hijinks. Most of the hilarity was com­pli­ments of our dad. He was a larger-than-life character loved by throngs.  His jokes, his pranks, the funny songs he would create on the spur of the moment, and his story-telling kept us all laughing.  We all looked for­ward to supper time (yes, “supper”;  I’m from New England), because we knew it would be a whole lot of fun. …