an april fool.

I've always disliked April Fool's Day. It's a combination of anticipation of my birthday (tomorrow, whee) but probably more because of an April Fools joke gone terribly ary on April 1st, 1986.

I took gymnastics at this family owned studio in my hometown called "Gym for Him". I only wish the clever name meant a gym for men. But darlin', in middle Tennessee, the "Gym for Him" meant a gym for the glory of Jesus. Because all that balance beam time was really just a testament to our Savior.

Ok, back to the story. So my sister, Amy, our neighbor, Sarah and I all took gymnastics at the same time at the Gym for Him. Sarah and Amy were four years older than me (they were 10 and I was 6) and in kid years, that was a significant difference. Man- i really wanted Amy and Sarah to think I was cool, even possibly funny. April Fools day 1986 coincided with our gymnastics class day. YES. My big chance.

My mom drove us to the Gym for Him and picked up Sarah on the way. Since I was only 6, I'm fairly sure I didn't really get April Fools day. But dammit, I was gonna give it my best. After my class was over, I patiently awaited Amy and Sarah to come out of theirs, all the while trying to construct the funniest, most grand April Fool's joke a tot could muster up. Ahhh ha! I got it!

Finally, Amy and Sarah come into the lobby. Amy asks if mom is here to pick us up yet. Instead of answering her, I run up to Sarah and say:

"Sarah, your mom is dead. She died in a car wreck just now."

I start laughing, but Sarah immediately starts screaming and crying and a brigade of gymnastics instructors rush over. Chaos ensued. The instructors trying to calm her down and running into the front office to see if there REALLY had been an accident. Sometime between Sarah's first shriek and them taking her to the office, I realized that my joke was a total failure, so then I started crying. The following half hour is a little fuzzy. The next thing I remember is having to apologize to Sarah on the drive home, and knowing that I was in a good deal (a great deal) of trouble.

So... not the best April Fools joke, but a solid try.
Nonetheless, I have not attempted another April Fools joke since then.

Sarah West, if you're out there, I'm really sorry about all that.