Having Fun on All Fools Day

I love how April Fools allows us to say things to loved ones that wouldn't be prudent on any other day. Case in point: on the 1st of this month, I sent a text to my best friends' fiancee' that said the following: "A** cheated on you a couple years ago". She didn't respond because she knew it was an April Fools, but the event actually happened. I was speaking the truth, but because of when the message was sent, it was disregarded.

I also sent texts to two of my wife's friends (from her phone) stating that she was pregnant. One friend said, "Congrads" while the other told my wife's sister about it. The sister called my girl back saying, "Why didn't you tell me?" My love chided me a bit, but hey, April Fools' comes but once a year.

I pulled an awesome one on my mother last year, but it blew up in my face. For background, my entire family was in the Jehovah's Witnesses faith from 1975-1984. My mom left it in '84 as she no longer believed. I followed in '85. The rest of my siblings and fathers are still in the faith. Here's the email I sent to her on April 1, 2008:

"Hi Mom. I kinda wanted to get your opinion on something. Over the last few months, I've been going to a website called the Jehovah's Witness Discussion Forum. They've posted many interesting articles that have quite frankly fascinated me. People's experiences, the rewards of going out in service, the Biblical justification for no blood, you name it. I left the Witnesses in the summer of '85 when I moved from living with Dad and the kids to living with you in that apartment on Lafayette. I was 14 at the time. I guess what I'm saying is that I've never really given the Witnesses a chance as an adult.

I've been wondering what it'd be like to go to one of their meetings (probably a Thursday night one since I hate getting up early on Sunday morning). I haven't talked to (my wife) about it, but doubt she'll be interested in giving them a try. If I go ahead with this, it's possible that my siblings might make more of an effort to see me and that would be a good thing. I know there's no way that you're gonna go back, but what do you think about me looking into this? By the way, if you talk to (my wife) this week, don't tell her about this quite yet."

This was her surprising reply:

"You know that's kind of a coincidence. I've seen a couple of publications lately at the laundromat and at a client's house and I've been kind of interested too. Some of the things they say really make good Biblical sense. I think it would be a good idea to check it out. I have been considering attending a meeting sometime. Let me know what you think and direct me to any websites that you think might be beneficial. I won't mention it to (your wife) and I'm not ready to mention it to (my guy) yet either."

Damn, I thought she'd be dead-set against me going back, but was actually interested in pursuing it herself. Oh what a tangled web we weave. Here is a friend of mine's response when I told him about it:

"Your mom took that joke hook, line, and sinker. Oh boy. What can u do? Tell her it was a joke. Will she be disappointed?"

I did give my mom a link to the Witnesses website. She sent this to me a couple days later:

"Good morning, Tom. I haven't had a chance to look at that web site yet, but I do have a publication that I picked up some time ago that I have been reading. I can't help but agree with a lot of it. I'll keep reading it until I'm finished and then I'll look at the web site. Have a great day!"

Finally, a few days later, we got together at the Olive Garden where I confessed all. I said there was no way I'd go back to the faith for numerous reasons: women are not allowed to give sermons to the congregation, you can't question the faith once you've joined, if you're kicked out of it, members can no longer speak with you (even if it involves family members), getting a blood transfusion is forbidden, holidays and birthdays cannot be celebrated, and they believe that a creature named Satan exists. After sharing this with her, my mother came around and decided she'd stay where she was at spiritually. My joke opened up a can of worms, but it was nice to have a convo with her about the faith that was once such a notable part of our lives.