Expressions of Love

Yesterday was the last day of school. This morning I woke up to a snowstorm.....of toilet paper. I'd been TP'd.  (I don't know how or where this tradition started, but I know it's been going on forever.  Kids did it when I was in high school.)

The scene made me chuckle as I put Chloe outside.  It took me back to my 50th birthday.

My birthday fell on a Saturday that year. It was also the day of state speech contest, so I spent the day with my speech kids. I brought cupcakes and celebrated with my students.

When I got home at about 7, a party was in place. My husband and sons had planned a small surprise party for me. It was great. Friends and family, lots of fun,

Now, some of those friends and family smoked. So, there was usually someone outside having a cigarette.  My friend came in after one of those cigarette breaks. "Deb, I caught some kids trying to TP your house. A car pulled up, a couple of kids got out and started throwing rolls of toilet paper at the crab apple tree. I think I scared them away."

Sure enough, we looked out the window and TP was flying from the front tree. We thought that would be the end of it. But, no.

Later the same friend is outside on the back deck. Same car. Same kids. Same result.

They've been caught twice now. Surely, they are done.

Nope.

Later I'm standing on the back deck with her and the car pulls up. A student gets out and starts walking through my backyard. Now, you have to know that my birthday is in mid-March. In northeast Iowa, that generally means there is snow on the ground. Lots of snow.

As he tramps through the snow, my friend and I are laughing that they are going to get caught again!  I yelled out, "Really. Three times you've been caught. Aren't you done yet?"

"Yea. I'm just looking for my cell phone. I lost it the last time."

I roared.  Karma, as they say, is a bitch.  I went and got a flashlight so he could see in the yard and find his phone.

Several of my speech kids decided to help me celebrate my 50th birthday.  Expressions of love. But they gave me more than that. This is the funniest TP'ing story I know. And I tell it all the time.  That school year, I told everyone about how they got caught three times. We gave them a special award at the speech banquet.  The student who drove "the getaway car", was revealed at the banquet.  It was the most fun I had in a long time.

So this morning when I saw the toilet paper flying, I thought of it as an expression of love. I'm pretty sure I know who did it. My only regret is that school is over.  I could get some mileage out of this!