Bertrand and Uncle Barty Come Home

"They say" there are two sides to every story. And that is true regarding the "tale" (or two "tails") I'm sharing here.

The tale is about why Uncle Barty and Bertrand the Mouse went quiet for awhile.

On December 14, Rebekah brought Bertrand the Mouse and Uncle Barty to WriteOn Joliet's Christmas party at a local restaurant, with the goal of taking their photos once the party was in full swing.

But since we were running the party, we forgot to let the crocheted mice run free. With the holidays right after that (and with me working December 23, December 24, and December 25), and with me still not feeling one hundred percent, we managed to shop and wrap gifts for the people in our family.

And that was it.

For the first time in lots of years, we forgot/ran out of time and energy to prepare a Christmas for Uncle Barty and Bertrand.

Right on the heels of Rebekah's birthday and our family Christmas (both on January 7), I was back in the hospital. I am not yet fully recovered (and feel as if I'm teetering on another relapse), so bringing out the mice almost fell off our radar.

I say "almost" because we didn't forget about them completely. We've just been a bit overwhelmed.

A week or so ago, Rebekah remembered the mice were still in her purse and returned them to me. 

OK, that's story number one. But here's what really happened.

First of all, you should know Uncle Barty is a very responsible mouse. Remember, Uncle Barty traveled all on his own from Indiana back in 2021 when Bertrand was missing.

So Uncle Barty thought, with our lives being so topsy turvy, that this was a good time for him and Bertrand to spend the holidays with their friends and return after the holidays.

But when Uncle Barty reached out in mid-January, I had just gone into the hospital. So I suggested they extend their visit, since I was unable to give them the attention they deserved.

At the end of January, Uncle Barty reached out again. I told him I was still under the weather and riding high on anxiety because of it. I assured him it was OK not to hurry home, that it was OK to stay with their friends for awhile.

But you know what? Uncle Barty is not only responsible, he is unselfish. And little Bertrand may be immature. But he is not selfish either.

Quite frankly, they missed hanging out with me, whether or not I had the energy to pay attention to them and catch their antics with my camera to post on social media.

So last night, while I was finishing some neglected BryonySeries projects, I heard a knock at the front door. I opened it and no one was there. 

Or so I thought. Until I looked down.

There stood Bertrand the Mouse and Uncle Barty with their suitcases.

They were homesick.

They missed us.

They didn't care we forgot about buying Christmas presents for them. They didn't care about presents. They cared about us.

And so, they came back anyway. 

I'm glad they did. I didn't realize how much I missed them until they returned.

So that's story number two.

Which one do you believe?

At any rate, they were wrong about the presents. Rebekah and I did, in fact, did buy three new mice books for them when we were out Christmas shopping. Our intention was certainly to buy the mice more gifts. They were very happy to receive the books (as their excited squeaks revealed).

And so, last night...

...they happily climbed into bed, their own bed (which they share with Faith and me), snuggled under the blankets, and read their new books until they fell fast asleep.