Never Say Never. 39

"God, sometimes I'm so tempted to post that picture of him from Halloween of '98 on the Internet," I groaned as soon as Joe was out of earshot. The rest of the world would say hello to one heck of a shrunken Yoda costume. "I think we still have it somewhere," Nick said with a devilish grin. He got up and strode over to the bookshelf beneath the TV. He pulled out three plump looking albums and dumped them next to me on the sofa. The first one was filled with early pictures--when Joe was still running around in diapers and Nick couldn't have been more than four or five. I was stunned when I found a picture of myself when I was two years old. I was standing on my front lawn, and there was a huge welt on my wrist. A sting. It all came flooding back to me. The afternoon before the picture had been taken; I had been playing with the Jonas boys in their yard. Joe had given me a sunflower. Neither of us had noticed the huge wasp in it, until I felt its piercing effects after trying to pin it in my hair. That was my first sting and it hurt like hell. The next day, Mrs. Jonas stopped by with Nick, who was clutching a daisy. Gosh, I don't remember how long it took me to realize it was bug-free and just accept it. Let's say it took a few dozen tears and one very long run around the backyard. Apparently, it was long enough for someone to snap a shot of me timidly reaching out for the flower Nick offered me. "You were always such a gentleman," I said sweetly, holding up the picture I ...