Lucky, The Leprechaun

Several years ago, our family leprechaun, Lucky, informed us that he was going to "retire."  He was an old leprechaun and it was time to hang up his clover and relax.  Lucky had been visiting our house ever since our kids were about 1 and 3.  His retirement was met with more sadness and regret than I would have anticipated, given the rather advanced ages of my kids at the time.
They held cherished memories of Lucky's annual visits on March 17th.  Preparations were made days in advance - becoming more and more elaborate as the years progressed.  A bed was made for Lucky out of doll house furniture and scraps of material.  Tidbits of food were left out for him, which he happily ate during the day.

Lucky was a practical joker for sure.  He would make his presence known throughout the day, met by squeals of joy from one or both kids.  "Moooom - look what Lucky did now!!!"
Chairs would be upturned, trails of toys would wind down the hallway, pillows would be stacked in towers.  Green footprints always seemed to mess up my clean bathroom and kitchen. Messages were written on the bathroom mirror.  Toilet water was green, milk was green.  Green sticky notes adorned with silly messages or greetings decorated walls and books and furniture.
Less "damage" was done on years when the 17th fell on a school day....but he always made his presence known.  Little gifts were left for each child - a 4-leaf clover, green beads or pins to wear, green cups of green candy.  Finally, after a day of shenanigans, Lucky would retire to his temporary bed (he did not have manners enough to make it in the morning!) and return home to Ireland the next morning.  A card and small gift would be
left for the kids.
Over the years, the pranks would become less elaborate, the gifts fewer, until finally in the final years Lucky would only be able to pull one small joke and leave a nice card with a green gift of $$.
The kids missed Lucky for awhile - but we have moved on.  Lucky sometimes sent a card with a picture of the warm beach he and his other retired leprechaun friends were visiting.
This mom, for one, is grateful for his retirement...

Happy St. Patrick's Day!

Quote of the day:  May the saddest day of your future

                              be no worse than the happiest day of your past.   ~Irish blessing