Rabbit Claymate Exposed!

I’m not particularly found of rabbits. Sure, they are cute when you spot them running around in your yard – until they eat everything in your garden! A friend of mine used to keep rabbits in his home as pets. The cages smelled, and it was a chore to clean them and take care of the rabbits. So, in October of 1995, when my sister-in-law handed me an ugly, ceramic bunny that she was trying to get rid of, I wasn’t all that appreciative. Apparently it was a gift when one of my nieces was born, and it just didn’t fit the décor of the nursery. (Real reason: it was just plain ugly!)

I took the rabbit home with me, tucked it away in a closet, pretty sure that perhaps, someday in the future, I may know what needed to be done with my “friend.”

Christmas of 1996, I wrapped the ugly bunny in a package that looked like a tootsie roll, and presented it as a gift, back to one of my nieces. The rabbit has now been given the name of Mr. Bucky and though we didn’t know it then, we have now established one of those weird family jokes – I mean traditions.

(Ms. Bucky returns to SIL for the first time!)

January of 1997 had Mr. Bucky going through a sex change operation and then returned to me for my 40^th birthday. Mr. Bucky's name had changed to Ms. Bucky.

April 1997, Ms. Bucky goes back to my SIL for Easter. Then silence. Ms. Bucky remained unheard from for over a year.

June 1998 – during my wedding reception, SIL and 15 other family members did a big surprise presentation to present Ms. Bucky back to me. Ms. Bucky was dressed in appropriate wedding attire. And the following instructions were given. She could not be returned unless I had more people involved in the presentation of giving her back!

So, while formulating my plan for her return, my husband and I decided to take Ms. Bucky on our honeymoon, and every other vacation that we went on, until we could plan for her return to darling SIL.

(Ms. Bucky at Niagra Falls! )

We started the Ms .Bucky photo album. During Ms. Bucky’s stay with us, she traveled from Minnesota, Wisconsin, Illinois, Michigan, New York, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Indiana, Tennesse, Kentucky, Alabama, Georgia, Florida, Iowa, Missouri, Arkansas, and Canada, and she has the photos to prove it! She has also managed to acquire souvenirs, luggage and her own carrying case. Bucky’s Babies are her two con-joined twins that she gave birth to during our guardianship. You do the best you can, but you can’t supervise your house guests every single minute!

November 1999, an opportunity presented itself, to return Ms. Bucky to my SIL. We were invited for a Thanksgiving celebration, in which over 20 guests were invited. It was my golden opportunity – only I didn’t know everyone! Through the power of email, I contacted guests to get their cooperation in an unrehearsed presentation. I met everyone at the door and gave them blue ribbons to wear that said “BBB” (Bring Bucky Back) And at the most opportune time, the entire group got up and sang to the tune of My Bonnie Lies Over the Ocean – “My Bucky lies over the ocean, my Bucky lies over the sea, my Bucky lies in Minnesota, oh bring back my Bucky to me!” SIL and brother were totally caught off guard and surprised that I had pulled off the criteria for presenting Ms. Bucky back to them!

Next, I established what had to be done before Ms. Bucky could be “given” back to me. “You must take Bucky to more countries and more states, before she can be returned.” That should keep them busy for awhile! I had her in 16 states and 2 countries. Let’s see what they can do!

Fast forward to 2007. In the past 6+ years, I have rarely caught a glimpse of Ms. Bucky. I did however receive post cards from her from various countries in Europe. I’ve heard rumors that she has done quite a bit of traveling and that she even got separated from the twins for a short period of time while the twins went to Morocco! I even heard a rumor that Ms. Bucky had fallen and broken into many pieces. (Oh no! Just when I was starting to get attached to her!)

And just when I let my guard down and totally forgot about the existence of Ms. Bucky, it happened. A very large box arrived at my house a few weeks after my 50^th birthday, covered in the letters BBB. It said BBB everywhere on that box! I wonder what’s in the box, I asked myself? Yeah. Like I didn’t know!

As hard as it may be to believe this, Ms. Bucky was returned to me, with a brand, new, larger photo album and a box filled with 30 stuffed bunnies of varying sizes, shapes and colors.

The photo album documents where Ms. Bucky has been over the past 6 years, and includes photo showing her in the Florida Keys, Texas, Mexico, North Carolina, Chicago, Rome, Paris, London, The Virgin Islands, St. John, St. Lucia, Aruba, Venezuela and Puerto Rico! Bucky's Babies had indeed gone on their own adventure in Morocco, and Ms. Bucky had taken a spill, but unlike Humpty Dumpty, Ms. Bucky was glued back together again.

The contents of the package reveal also, that while Ms. Bucky was away, and without any prompting from myself, she became a Clay Aiken fan. And not just a fan, but a full fledged Claymate, being featured in the January 2007 edition of Clayboy Magazine - with the highly regarded honor of being called Claymate of the Year!

So now the plans are starting to formulate, for how and when Ms. Bucky will go back to my SIL. In the meantime, since Ms.Bucky is a Clay fan, and since Clay is going to announce his summer tour sometime soon, I think you’ll find the two of us, out on the road, going to concerts together. If you see us, come stop and say hi and get your photo taken with Ms. Bucky. Perhaps, I just may get a photo of her with Clay. Perhaps not. But it sure is going to be fun trying!

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Annie Carol