Real tricksters do not limit themselves to a mere month in the calendar year. At least not the one I know.
Like most of you I remember one year experiencing the blue milk and green mashed potatoes. As kids we thought it was kinda cool. April Fools was for verbal jokes mostly though. The kind that instigate a head turn to look at something not really there or a "Really?" to be followed with a jocular response of "April Fools!" Our boys get a kick out of this day long game.
For my family all the real joking was sprinkled throughout the year. The source usually sprang from one brother in particular. I loved his pranks though. They made me smile. Thinking back now, I was almost always the target. Which makes me smile all the more.
For example one year while at college he baked a cake for my birthday. He arranged for an adventurous double date and brought the cake over when they came to pick me up. They lit the candle and everyone sang Happy Birthday. As my brother, his date and mine, and my roommates huddled around the homemade cake singing, I took in a big breath to blow out the candle. It was at this moment that I noticed smoke billowing out the sides of it and an overpowering foul smell of sulfur. I rushed the cake to the balcony and we worked out our abs with a good laugh.
He had ever so carefully baked and constructed a cake with a smoke bomb in side, crafting a wick long enough to thread through the cake and candle. No one suspected a thing. It was BRILLIANT!
It was acts of thoughtfulness such as these that reinforced my awareness of how much he cared about me. Silly? Maybe. But I knew the thought, the effort and attention he gave to me were acts of brotherly affection. I always remembered them with fondness and looked forward to the next one because he always had to out do himself. Never were they mean spirited.
And not to worry. My roommates loved him. (Sometimes a little too much.) He was adored for his fun and adventure and good nature. Still is.
For me pranks, tricks and even April Fools bring a smile.
(It helps that my brothers could never do wrong in my eyes. They were and are my heroes.)
Delightfully Duped,
Suzanne
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