Sean had long heard of the story of a family tradition.

It seems that his father, his grandfather, and his great grandfather had all been

able to walk on water on their 18th birthday.

On that special day, they would walk across the lake to their local pub,

‘Murphy’s Bar,’ for their first legal drink.

So when Sean’s 18th birthday arrived, he and his friend Mick took a boat,

rowed out to the middle of the lake, and Sean stepped out of the boat. He immediately

sank, and nearly drowned. He was only saved by Mick,

who managed to pull him back into the boat.

Furious, and confused, he went to see his grandmother, and said,

‘Gran, ’tis my 18th birthday. So why can’t I walk across the water,

like me father, me grandfather, and his father before him?’

Grandma looked deep into Sean’s troubled eyes, looked at him with kind, benevolent eyes and said,

‘Because, they were all born in January, and the lake was frozen over. You were born in August, ye idiot!’