Better to Laugh

This (mostly) true story is dedicated to our niece, Jaelynn.  Happy birthday, sweetie!

Once upon a time, a little girl named Jaelynn visited her Uncle Terry and Aunt Dawn in Indiana. While she was there, her uncle introduced her to yummy strawberry syrup in her milk. The strawberry goodness put a big smile on Jaelynn’s face; making Jaelynn smile put a big smile on her Uncle Terry’s face.

On a visit to Wisconsin, Jaelynn’s mom told Uncle Terry that when they go to the store, Jaelynn always asked if they could please buy strawberry syrup.

“No, honey. We don’t buy that kind of syrup. Only Uncle Terry buys that kind of syrup,” or something to that effect.

Uncle Terry got a twinkle in his eye. “Well then, now I know what to send you for your birthday,” he winked.

Months later, in the month of Jaelynn’s birthday, as the aunt and uncle were cleaning up after dinner, the uncle asked, “When is Jaelynn’s birthday?”

“Strawberry syrup!” the aunt exclaimed, without hesitation. “It is coming up. I will get the syrup and mail it off.”

When her aunt looked at Jaelynn’s mommy’s facebook page, she saw that Jaelynn had lost a front tooth. “A perfect place for a straw full of strawberry milk,” the aunt thought with a grin.

Well, Aunt Dawn forgot to write strawberry syrup on her grocery list. When she came back from the store, no syrup. Uh oh! She only had a couple of days to get the syrup and mail it off so that it would reach her niece in time!

Aunt Dawn got the syrup and needed to mail it the next day. As she did her Friday errands, she got behind. She was determined to get that syrup in the mail! She got to the post office with 15 minutes to spare. What’s this? She forgot to pick up a box for mailing! No problem, the post office had boxes. But the boxes were too big, and she didn’t have any tape! The aunt wrapped the bottle in paper and put it in a soft sided mailer. She got to the counter with one minute to spare. As the clerk was weighing the package, Aunt Dawn saw a sign that read, “Blah blah blah, no liquids, blah blah blah.” Um, strawberry syrup is a liquid, even if a harmless one. The little girl’s aunt kept praying that the clerk would not ask if the package contained a liquid, because if the clerk asked, of course she would not lie. The clerk finished stamping the package (without asking questions) and said that the package would go out that day. Hooray! 

Aunt Dawn went back to her car. There, sitting under her purse, was the card, not in the package. Oops! She put the card in the mailbox. Even if the card and strawberry syrup did not arrive at the same time, the syrup was on its way, and that was the most important part! Uncle Terry was very excited that the syrup was making its way to his darling niece.

Hopefully, as you read this, there is a sweet, little girl in Wisconsin who is drinking her strawberry milk happily ever after.