~ APRIL FIRST, 2008~ April Fools' Day

"The first of April, some do say,

Is set apart for All Fools' Day.

But why the people call it so,

Nor I, nor they themselves, do know.

But on this day are people sent

On purpose for pure merriment."

Poor Robin's Almanac (1790) ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~ Every morning I enjoy opening e-mail, to find my "Word of the Day." Today's word:

jollification \jol-ih-fuh-KAY-shuhn\, noun:

Merrymaking; Festivity; Revelry. I thought about what a fun word it is. Fun to say, fun to put into a sentence but mostly just a real "feel good" kind of word in this world of so much negativity, gloom and doom. Trying to make a connection to jollification and why it was today's word, I remembered...April Fools' Day, and I thought back... waaaaay back, in my memory bank, of the funniest (hey at least the pranksters thought it was funny until I was near tears) April Fools' Day prank played on me. You see, all my life I have been organized, alphabetized and catergorically speaking, categorized. I have ways of putting things in categories in my brain. A constant "to do" list but with a little brain prioritizing not to mention all the little "stickies" and notes I leave to remind myself of my organized life. But enough of that. April 1, 1985, my boss, SPS, who 25 years later is now one of my bestest friends, decided to push the limit with my organized life for a little fun and merriment, along with his boss...my big boss! Now we must remember that this was a day and age absent of Ipods, Iphones, Outlook and Alarms to ring a bell of alert to tell you when to leave and just where to go and with your favorite tune. In that year, anybody who really wanted to be organized went all out...Franklin (better known in my busy life as Frank) Covey Style. Leather Binder, all alphabetized, calendarized and one's schedule for the entire year mapped out. That didn't even count the hundreds of phone numbers, birthdays, anniversaries and addresses I lugged around with me every day. I carried Frank in a prized treasure...a lovely leather bag to match. Much to my chagrin, they didn't have matching shoes! I lived my life by that beautiful maroon, leather bound journal which I still have in the little cubby above my desk, as I sit writing this story. Photo below shows just how much I thought of Frank...I mean really, a Reward?

I knew where I was to be at all times, where the bosses were supposed to be and my boys schedule (hey...they were color coded but that is a post for a different time). After my short drive from Texas City to Houston (58 mi. 1 way), I settled in for the day, looked at my schedule lay Frank to rest on my credenza and took on the day. About 3:30 I decided to take a look and determine what the next day was going to be and where everybody in my life needed to be. That maroon journal would be the director of my day. But fear set in immediately when Frank was not in his usual place on my credenza, he was not in his stylish bag, he was not on my desk, he was absolutely nowhere to be found. Panic began to set in and I went up and down the halls and out to my car at least twice, looking for Frank. It seemed like folks were watching my every move but I paid no attention...I was on a mission to find Lost Frank. This went on for at least an hour and I was at the point of tears. Then...just my luck, the bosses called me in. The big boss and the immediate boss, who later in life has become a beloved buddy, SPS, and only 1 of 2 people that I allow to call me Bev. The other is 95 years old...what can I say? They played me well...what is wrong with you? "Why, Bev, you look on the verge of tears." That I was and trying very hard not to be a "whiney bucket" in front of two of the big bosses! Nothing doing, I broke. The dam broke and all they could hear about was poor lost Frank. Unfortunately, that was my pet name for my beloved organizer, Frank, and we had two real guy persons named Frank in our department. So I had to quit the hysteria long enough to tell them it was not a person, it was the map to my life! "Ah, ha" they said, with quite the michevious looks on their faces. In less than 10 seconds, Frank was pulled out of a desk drawer with the simple: "Is this what you are looking for, Bev?," all sweet and innocent. Well, calling me by a name that I detest really put me over the edge, plus having found Frank after all the worry and what if's! "APRIL FOOL'S DAY, BEV" they said with more than a glee in their eyes. Sad for them for I didn't feel a bit of jolly and to this day I don't know: Do they realize the trauma they caused? I mean...can you imagine losing your cell phone? Some of us don't even know our own phone numbers since we've become so paper challenged! From time to time, my bestest buddy and I refer to this fond memory with a little more lightheartedness on my part since now we are all so very sophisticated with our electronic dependency.

~~~~~~ Fast Forward 23 years to present ~~~~~ Today, this first day of April, 2008, I wanted to put a little merriment in someone else's life. My bestest female buddy. We call her Cupid because she's brought together 12 couples out of 13 girlfriends she has played Cupid to, who are as happily married as she is...and she so wishes I would be #13. Having missed her the last month and playing a lot of phone tag, I left an urgent 911 message. She called instantly. A dear friend, the kind that is totally honest, whether you ask for it or not. Of course, always loving honesty. Next to my Mom, she is my biggest cheerleader. A good friend, wonderful wife, great mother, friends to more than I can count and now a beautiful grandmother! So when she returns my call I remind her of this fellow I had met several years ago that she vaguely knew, coincidently, and I told her how he and I have remained friends but more recently decided to give the friendship a dating chance, post my "time out." A blog for another time. With absolutely no hesitation, she said: "Oh, the fellow whose feelings you hurt?" Well, that part I didn't know about and won't elaborate on. I just answered with a quick "Well, I must not have hurt his feelings too bad because we're going on a real date." We had always just had a get together drink, catch up on lives and left it there. There was complete silence...you know like the commercial for cell phones when the line drops at just the wrong time? I thought she had passed out but then she regained her composure and said: "What did you just say? I might add she said it with a little more glee, but I had been in "time out" since 9.30.07 and even she agreed it was time to get out. "Yes, you heard me right." She was all excited and I let that excitement go only a little way and then I thought...Hook, Line and Sinker..."Gotcha'... April Fools' Day! She laughed and laughed but before we hung up she wanted credit for the Cupid-Set Up. Well, I guess that is the least I can do for her ~ let her believe in her heart of hearts she actually might make it to Couple#13! Well, another dating disaster that dating of a friend was but no fault of Cupid's...lost a nice friend. And that is the merriment of my day...looking back at fond memories and having a bit of fun with a dear friend (although there's no doubt in my mind there will be payback :-) So...future memories to enjoy. Hope everyone had a fun day with a lot of jollification on this first day of April, 2008! Cheers.