Even before I knew that she existed…Bertha…had me collecting frogs…especially unusual ones…in fact…I have three on my desk as I type…I even…played…with them as a child…until…I got warts…and…Mama made me stop…or…maybe it was having the warts removed that made me stop…who knows…all I know is…I don’t…play…with them today…but…I do still collect them…
Although all of my frogs are special to me…I have them from…Egypt…Italy…Japan…my most favorite one…is the one that I’ve had the longest…
In 1974ish…I was shopping with Mama…and…I saw him…the neatest frog ever…and…I wanted him…but…Mama said…no…and…I thought that was that…but…we got home…he was in the bag…a really cool surprise…and he immediately moved into my first college apartment…on the bottom…it says…made exclusively for…Jay Willifred…so…that became his name…
I’ve lived in many places…since that first apartment…but…there has always been a place of honor for…Jay Willifred…and…there always will be…
One day…Bertha…decided to enlighten me…as to my love for frogs…she explained…that…frogs…cannot hop backwards…they can only move forward…and…that…even when I was young…she was reminding me…that this is a central truth for my life…
I can only go forward…
No matter how much I want to…no matter how hard I try…no matter how much I remember…I can’t go backwards…it just isn’t possible…
Hmmm…
Here I go…hopping into the future…
Jane
