Wednesday, April 1

"Fool me once. Shame on you. Fool me twice. Shame on me!

I love April Fools Day. Not because of the jokes people play on each other (it's only 1:30 and I've already been "fooled" three or four times), not because it’s April 1st and April instantly makes me think it’s finally spring time, not because my birthday is now five months away, as opposed to six last month, not because the Tidal Basin currently has these surrounding it:



Not because April showers brings May flowers, although I do love May flowers, and the Mayflower for that matter, and not because it means General Conference is almost here. But the real reason for loving April Fools Day is because 19 years ago I received the best present ever, and it wasn’t even my birthday.

I had a terrible habit of sucking my thumb. My parent’s tried everything to get me to stop. They covered my thumb with band aids, put Vaseline on it, told me it would fall off if I didn’t stop, and I’m sure a plethora of other things to try to rid me of this nasty habit. They learned the hard/long way that the trick to getting me to stop sucking my thumb was to bribe me with a cat. It’s amazing what a kid will do (or in this case I will do) when a parent bribes their child to stop a particular behavior. So, naturally I stopped and got the sweetest little kitty EVER!!! I believe I started sucking my thumb right after I got him, but hey…

"Oh the thumb-suckers thumb
May look wrinkled and wet
And withered and white as the snow.
But the taste of a thumb
Is the sweetest taste yet
As only we thumb suckers know.”

My Dad hated this little guy. But I adored him more than anything that a 4 and a half year old could, even my thumb.

Happy Birthday Oreo, how I miss you so!


9 comments:

AJ Candrian said...

Happy Birthday Oreo! I loved that cat. I'm glad you didn't mention in your blog that he died because he had cancer in his nose. Poor little guy. Memories... my favorites included sneaking him in every night to sleep in my room after dad went to sleep.

Brittany said...

Oh! You remembered! That almost made me cry!

Lauren Kay said...

Oh so cute!

Candria said...

I had no idea that Oreo was a bribery gift! Good ol' Oreo, I remember hiding you during sleep overs when we heard Uncle Mike coming!! Good memories... Very cute pictures...

The Lara Family said...

I remember that cat. I didn't know that he got cancer and died. Now his memory will live on forever on your blog!

carla thorup said...

oh cute! i actually remember this cat.

and matt had a terrible thumb sucking problem, and only when he was 13 did he finally stop b/c of bribery.

i love the first picture.

Rob said...

The thumb sucker gets a cat, but did the good child, who never had a bad habit, ever get the dog he wanted? No. Someday, Chewy, we will be best friends. Maybe in Sweden.

JD said...

Fun story. Love the pictures of ol' school Amy.

Joshua and Joy said...

I remember that cat too! I think that we have a picture with a bunch of us, and Oreo is in it too. Bribery can turn out to be a good thing huh?