April Fool's!

This is my Dad - Wayne Brumbley. This picture was taken in 2006. I want to include him here on our blog in honor of April Fools Day, circa 1987. Let me tell you a story...

In 1987 I was in college and my brother Eric was in high school. My youngest brother David was still in diapers. Since it was April Fools Day, I had already been caught a few times by gags, and it was only about two in the afternoon when I received a call from the Dean of Students. He said I needed to come to his office immediately. I laughed at him and said, sure, this is the Dean, right. As it happens, it really was the Dean and he wanted to see me. So, I showed up in his office, braced for more non-sense, when he offered me the keys to a car and said, "Here, take these keys and go to Lewes, Delaware. Your mother says you know the way. No need to hurry back; I hope everything is okay." Of course, I laughed at him again. He failed to understand my amusement. I said, "Okay, I'll bite; why are you lending me a car and why am I going to Lewes?" He must have thought my mom was able to contact me earlier (this was way before cell phones, mind you, we only had hall phones!) and he was astonished to learn that he was giving me the news - My father had a heart attack and I was to hurry to the hospital to be with my family. Even after hearing the news from a Dean of Students and seeing the serious look on his face, I still laughed, convinced that this was some elaborate April Fool's prank. My friends did not leap out from behind his desk and yell "gotcha". Instead, I took the keys and headed to the hospital, about two and half hours by car.

I was met there by brothers, Eric and David. Mom was in with Dad. (Eric was caught quite off guard at school, too, and didn't believe Mom the first time she told him they were checking him out 'cause Dad was in the hospital.) David was playing happily in the hospital hallways, running around like any curious three year old, peeking in doorways and trying out every button and gadget within his reach.

So yes, my father, with all his dry humor, decided that April Fool's Day would be the appropriate day to pull off a near-death experience. He didn't do any of this intentionally, of course, and he blames it all on the chili he ordered for lunch that day, but, it is a new tradition in our family to call Dad, every April Fool's Day and wish him a happy Heart Attack Anniversary. Eric called this year from his Army Post in Afghanistan!

This year it is 21 years since that awful day. Eric, David and I call Dad on April Fool's Day to celebrate that he is recovered from his trauma and that he is still with us to pull off another April Fool's prank. He had a long stay in the hospital and is still medicated to prevent a future attack. We love you, Dad. Just tone it down a bit next time, huh?