I know my sister Lisa still fails to see any humor in this story. As I reflect on this, after raising my own children, it does seem a bit sadistic and not as humorous as it felt at the time.

This episode occurred while my brother and I were in the Boy Scouts. We had just learned knot tying. At the end of a session, we were taught how to tie a hangman’s noose. Of course, that is the knot I still remember how to tie, including the “unlucky13” wraps around the loop.

Armed with this new knowledge, we absolutely had to try it.

My brother John had the brilliant idea to get most of our seven-year-old sister’s dolls out of her room and strategically hang them from every conceivable spot we could find. I somehow escaped most of the blame when the rest of the family returned. My sister Lisa was devastated and convinced that all her dolls were now dead. My parents did not think any of this was funny.

To this day, Lisa claims this episode has scarred her for life.