Prince Charming was a pet dwarf frog that I kept in my office for over a year. He lived in a small plexiglass box that was adorned with little natural toned pebbles and a small white and small green rock. The box sat on my little round side table along with a picture of my grand-babies and my business cards. I really enjoyed having Prince Charming around. I often made up fun stories about his escapades to share with visitors to my office but the best adventures were those of Prince Charming and my supervisor, Dr. West.
Dr. West teaches children’s literature and has a fantastic creative mind. He really bonded with Prince Charming and became protective of him. He often comes to his office over the weekends to work on his research and stressful deadlines. Every Friday as Dr. West left his office, he would stop by my office and with a smile remind me, “I’ll make sure and feed Prince Charming when I come in this weekend.” And he did. Every Sunday he would email me a delightful comment on their amusing time together. I totally looked forward to his email every week!
The stories were often hilarious and mostly were based on whatever might be happening on campus that weekend. In the fall, we had a jigsaw puzzle out on a table in the department lounge for folks to work on every now and again when they came to get coffee or had a break. One Sunday during that time, Dr. West sent an email that said, “I just fed Prince Charming. We kept pretty busy this afternoon putting in pieces in the puzzle. He said to tell you that we put in 50 pieces, but he’s exaggerating. We put in more like 7 pieces.” After December commencement, the email read, “I fed Prince Charming. He and I just got back from the commencement ceremony. He insisted on going, but it was tricky getting a robe and hood his size. I think he has been watching too many GEICO commercials, and now he wants to check things out like that gecko does on the commercials. Anyway, he is safely back in his tank now.”
I think my favorite is when he told me that Prince Charming wanted me to check with my son Josh about getting cable television. He works for TimeWarner Cable. The next Sunday, he said, “I just fed Prince Charming. He said that he is still waiting for his cable television. He is thinking about calling Directv instead.” The following Sunday the email read, “I just fed Prince Charming. As I was closing the door to your office, I am pretty sure I heard him calling Directv and putting in an order for service. He was saying something about wanting Frog and Toad News Network, whatever that is.” I was cracking up. When I came into my office that Monday I looked down at the space where Prince Charming’s humble abode sat, and busted out laughing. On top of his home was a little handmade DirectTV dish and a sign that read, “Frog and Toad News Network”!
Unfortunately, one morning a couple of months ago, I was getting ready to feed Prince Charming and he was gone! I was shocked! When I exclaimed, “Oh no!”, Dr. West and others in the area came quickly to see what was wrong. Everyone had gotten accustomed to checking on Prince Charming and interested in what he’d been up to lately. We all began moving things around in my office to see if maybe somehow he had gotten out of the box. We looked and looked but couldn’t find him. We were all upset and in disbelief. He still hasn’t returned and there have been no sightings of him.
Every now and then someone will visit my office for assistance and ask about him. When I tell them what happened a sad and concerned face comes over them. Prince Charming was only here for a short time but he provided many of us with much entertainment and “charming” memories. It reminds me of the old saying, some friends come into your life for a reason, some only come for a season, and some for a lifetime.