Charlie and Angie--
Here is a bedtime story for the babies.
Once upon a time there was a little piggy bank that looked very much like a basketball with ears and a tail. A grandma purchased it some time ago because it seemed like the perfect little gift to give to her son and daughter-in-law, who were (and are) devoted basketball fans, someday in the future when they decided to have a baby.
The grandma kept the bank for over a year, waiting patiently for a baby announcement, and nearly forgetting about the little piggy bank in the shape of a basketball. At last the day arrived in November of 2008 when the son and daughter-in-law surprised the grandma, her husband (the grandpa), and one of the aunts (who happened to be the mother of a future cousin of the baby) with the announcement that a baby would spring forth at the end of May, adding to the supply of grandchildren so loved by the grandma and her husband, the grandpa.
So the grandma hurried to her closet, where the little piggy bank had been hibernating, and gave it to the son and his wife in celebration. This would not be a good time for pork jokes, if anyone had that in mind.
Not long after, the son began to refer to the little baby-to-be as Ziggy. As it turned out, there was another surprise on the horizon. A few weeks later, the son and the daughter-in-law announced a second Ziggy would be joining the first in a phenomenon known as "twins". Jaws dropped, tears flowed, and no one could quite believe the amazing news of the Double Ziggies. Right now you'd expect that another basketball bank would appear in the grandma's closet, but you'd be wrong. This isn't a story about magic.
For quite some time the grandma was in a fog because of the news of the babies (an entirely different reason for the grandma's fog than was usual) and forgot about the little piggy bank. In retrospect, this makes the grandma sad. But I digress. Eventually the grandma realized the need for a companion for the basketball piggy bank, so she looked high and low, on the internet and in stores, for a second piggy bank. But alas, although they existed, they were elusive.
Now you would think that the grandma, upon hearing the next surprise from the son and daughter-in-law--that the Baby Ziggies would be Identical Ziggies-- would find an identical piggy bank so Ziggy 1 and Ziggy 2 would match. But she didn't. She checked with the babies' parents, and they were okay with the idea of a soccer ball piggy for the second Ziggy. Diversity in the sporting world can be good.
And so it is that, after much searching high and low, on the internet and in stores, that the grandma found a Ziggy soccer piggy bank today, at the very same store--the Corner Drug in LeSueur--where the first Ziggy piggy bank came from. It was a miracle. Okay, not a miracle, but a nice coincidence, don't you think?
Here is the bank, on the kitchen counter, having dinner this evening. This little piggy will be delivered to the home of the two Ziggies very soon, where he or she and his bro or sis bank now resides. The grandma is not sure whether the Ziggy piggy banks are boys or girls; she couldn't schedule an ultrasound. But they lived happily ever after. ~~ THE END ~~
Owen, unaware of his brother's peril!
Happy Mother's Day to Angie (first timer X 2!), to Annie, and to Elisabeth. And Elisabeth, thank you for coming to meet the new babes and sharing your medical expertise with all of us. You make a great salad, too!
