My sister works late on Thursday nights, so over the years, my parents help her out with babysitting on Thursday afternoons. My sister's youngest child, Hannah is nine, but will be ten soon. Hannah spends Thursday afternoons with my parents (and me, now that I am living there) . My dad (Pop to Hannah) picks her up from school and she entertains my mom and dad and stays for dinner until my brother-in-law, Dave, her dad, picks her up (usually between 6:30 and 7:00 pm). Lately, Hannah and Pop have gotten into the habit of having pancakes for dinner on Thursday nights - it is some sort of secret bond between them - I have never been offered pancakes for dinner since moving in with my parents in late October - an omlette once in a while, but never pancakes! Hannah gets very annoyed that the hospital will not allow her to visit me on Thursdays when I am there - she is too young and it really makes her angry. She will usually draw or color a picture for me to take with me for my room, so that something of hers is there with me, even if she can not be with me. (My sister did sneak her in on Christmas Day, but it caused a huge uproar and we had to get the Charge Nurse to make a fuss, etc.) Due to Spring Break and the Easter holiday, Hannah has been visiting with us more than usual these last few weeks. On Wednesday, my sister and Hannah picked me up from physical therapy and we went on a few errands together. Hannah mentioned that she needed a Webkinz Peace Puppy for a gift for her friend Taylor's birthday slumber party on Friday night. Well, just in case you don't have a young child in your life, a Webkinz is a small stuffed animal that has a secret code that you log into the Webkinz website and play games and decorate rooms and all sorts of stuff. I only know this because my long ago fellow girl scout and classmate Barb brought me a Webkinz Penguin recently when I was in the hospital. When I brought it home, Hannah knew all about it and helped me to register it on the web and decorate a room for it, etc. and every now and then on a Thursday we log in and check out my Penguin buddy. I digress - back to the Peace Puppy. Apparently Taylor told Hannah that all she wanted for her birthday was a Peace Puppy and some scented pencils that they sell at the Hallmark Store called Smencels (or something like that). So, while running errands, we stopped at every Hallmark Store in a 10 mile radius and there was no Peace Puppy to be found. Hannah was very sad. She really wanted to make her friend happy with the gift of a Peace Puppy. By the way, none of us knew what a Peace Puppy was or what it looked like, but everywhere we went, we were told that they had sold out fast. When I got home Thursday night, I did an internet search and found that a Peace Puppy was a little white stuffed puppy with little peace signs all over its body. It was adorable, but unless I was willing to spend way to much money, I could not have one in time for Friday's party. Well, Friday morning I woke up determined to find a Peace Puppy. Hannah would be spending part of the day with us and I wanted to surprise her with it. I called about 30 different stores, gift shops, etc. and got the same story from each of them - sorry, sold out. I don't know what made me think of it, but I remembered that the Wockenfuss Candy Stores in the malls usually sold stuffed animals, so I broadened my search. Well, a nice lady at the Wockenfuss in North Plaza Mall said yes, she had a Peace Puppy and would hold it for me. I was jumping for joy (probably more excited than Hannah). One problem - I can't drive and mom and dad had some appointments and were not home. Hannah and I were on pins and needles waiting for them to get home and take us to Wockenfuss - both of us were afraid that someone would give the Peace Puppy to another customer. Well, we got there and it was waiting for us. Well, needless to say, as soon as Hannah saw it, she fell in love with it and wanted one of her own, but there wasn't another one on the shelf. Oddly enough, there was another bag with a Peace Puppy in it, but it was being held for another crazy customer who had called around looking for one. Before leaving the store, I gave the sales lady my phone number and said that if the other person didn't pick it up, would she please give me a call, because my neice's birthday was coming up and she really wanted one, but that the one we were buying was a gift for her friend. Although Hannah really wanted the Peace Puppy for herself, she had originally wanted it as a gift for Taylor and she was not going to change her mind. So, this morning, Hannah, Megan and Ryan (Hannah's older sister and brother) picked me up to take me to my house and to help me do a few things there. Hannah was leaving for the slumber party from my house, so she had the Peace Puppy all wrapped in a giant gift bag and pillow and her pj's, etc. with her. Her first question when seeing me was, "Did the Wockenfuss lady call?". I shook my head and told her that it was unlikely, but that I would try to find one before her birthday. She seemed sad for a moment, but then she felt happy because she knew that she had a great gift for her friend. Later in the day, my cell phone rang and I answered, eventhough the number was not familar to me. Well, it was the Wockenfuss lady. The other person no longer wanted the Peace Puppy and I was welcome to come and get it! Yeah - I have a Peace Puppy for Hannah for her birthday. Okay, I guess that this story sounds a bit nutty and you are probably thinking that I have completely lost my mind. Well, it is just that due to a strange set of circumstances and me having the Major Health Setback around Christmas time, I somehow misplaced Hannah's Christmas gift (which I know that I bought her and my sister was with me, so she can back up my memory on that one, but it has never been found!). So, when Bonnie and her family came to the hospital to visit me on Christmas Day and there was such an ordeal getting Hannah in the hospital and she hadn't seen me in so long - and she knew that I was really really sick for a while and then I didn't look so good when she did get to see me. And then, on top of everything else, I didn't have a present for her (because of course we didn't realize it until that morning and where on earth do you get a good Christmas present on Christmas morning when you are in the hospital, etc. ). Not that the lack of a Christmas present ever seemed to matter to Hannah - it clearly upset me more than it upset her. I think that I gave her a small box of crayons or hair accessories or something, just to be able to hand her something, but it really never seemed to bother her and I still have not made up for the missing gift - I actually just remembered it. So, there it is, my three day obsession with finding a Peace Puppy and the happy ending, that not only did Hannah get to make her friend happy, but I found a Peace Puppy for Hannah too and she will get that surprise on her birthday. Wow, what a happy way to end the week!
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