O Basket, Where Art Thou?

So it is the Easter Weekend and I figured I would share a funny Easter Day story from the old childhood. To tell you this story I have to preface it with telling you that my Dad was a huge practical jokester and the funniest person I have ever known. He was the kind of guy you didn't know if he was playing a joke or being serious, which made things always more funnier in the end.

So for the story, I believe I was about 8 years old, and at that age I had already realized there was no such thing as the Easter Bunny, but still loved the candy! I also had a sister five years younger than me so I was able to take advantage of it longer than I probably should had, bonus. So it was Easter morning and I awoke with such anticipation of mountains of cadbury eggs and jelly beans that would occupy my diet for days. Now my Dad always was a little sneaky on hiding the baskets. Sometimes he would put them in the garage or in closets but I was nosey enough to sniff them out pretty quickly. I think my Dad was wise to this so he took it upon himself to set me up for a little challenge when it came to locating the basket of goodness. I would love to go back into time and watch his reaction when I looked through the normal spots with no luck. What? Come on, I should be tearing through bags of jelly beans by now. I should be chomping down on my one pound Easter bunny. But no, I was denied and I was a little upset. I looked everywhere and soon realized that this was more than just finding an Easter basket, no it was a battle of wits. Kind of like the drinking of wine in Princess Bride, inconceivable!

I was not going to be out witted nor was I going to ask to for any help. So as soon as I realized I haven't found the basket I just acted like it wasn't a big deal. That lasted about 30 seconds. I was growing frustrated and I went back through the places I just checked twice already. I can still hear my Dad say, "Ken, you haven't found your basket yet?" He was trying to sound concerned but really he was saying, "This year you are going to work for it and I am going to enjoy watching you storm around in a tizzy."

With the power of the sugar controlling my brain I finally conceded and asked for a clue. My Dad just said you may want to expand your search to the outside. Outside? You have to be kidding? So I walked out the front door and searched through the bushes, no basket. Then I searched through the two cars in the driveway, no basket. Then I proceeded to walk to the back yard, and yet no basket. At this point I was beyond frustrated because my sister was laughing hysterically. I looked all over the yard and no basket, I was defeated. I couldn't stand being kept from the sugar goodness any longer. I said, "Where is the basket Dad?" He was sitting on the deck by now and asked me to come up there and he would help me out. So I ran up the steps to the deck and sat down at the table. With a grin a mile wide he said, "Look up." I looked up and discovered my basket was sitting on the roof. The freaking roof, are you kidding? I think my Dad laughed for years about that and I did too. Thank you Dad for making memories for me that I will never forget. You are missed but never forgotten.