For years my family has had this really odd tradition.  If I had to point to anyone as the person who started this tradition, it would have to be two people.  My mother and father are the ones responsible.  

In 1996 my mother was diagnosed with non-hodgkins lymphoma.  At the end of all her treatments she had to have major surgery.  My mom is like me, she does not want flowers in her hospital room.  It makes it look too much like a funeral.  In addition since her immune system was severely compromised, she really did not need any anyways.  My father bought her a frog.  

At that time my daughter was an infant and my son was about seven.  Well, my son really, really, and I mean really wanted his grandmother’s frog.  She is the type of grandmother that rarely says “no”. So he was pretty convinced he was going to get it.  This time his cute, little, pouty face did not work.  She said “no” and something about how it meant something to her since Grandad gave it to her.  

In an effort to appease my son, we told him that if he ever was in the hospital we would buy him his own frog.  The very next year, he was in the hospital with a broken femur.  So the tradition became firmly implanted in our lives.

A few years ago my daughter developed appendicitis, obviously she was in the hospital.  She had no memory of my mom being in the hospital or my son, but she had heard us talk about the “hospital frog”.  So she wanted her own.  We found one in the gift shop.  At that time we had no idea that it was a webkinz, and just how special webkinz were, but that is a story for another day.  

When I have been in the hospital, I have gotten my hospital frogs.  I have several now.  This last time I was in the hospital, I did not get one.  My husband kept working during the day, visited me at night, and doing other stuff so he forgot my hospital frog.  Last week as a joke I mentioned how I did not get my hospital frog.  

Apparently, he remembered what I said and bought me one today.  It is a very special one.