A few days ago my older sister, Julie, sent me a text message. This is what it said:

I had a former student email me today. She and her husband are currently in the Jackson area, but will be moving to Winston-Salem for him to finish his residency. They are interested in finding a church when they arrive. I told them about y’all’s church and she was interested. Would you give her a call tomorrow on her day off? Her name is Ella Funt and her number is ***-***-****. 

Cold-calling folks is not my cup of tea, but she never asks for too much, so I thought, “Sure. Why not?”
I also thought I was sure glad I don’t have to walk through life with the last name Funt (if anyone’s name is actually Funt, my apologizes for offending you).

Some of you reading this are already laughing. Others, however, are like me. Hang in there…you’ll catch on soon. Hopefully.

The next day I called the number she gave me, but I encountered a couple of problems. 1) It was a business number. 2) I couldn’t understand what the automated message was saying.

I texted Julie.

Me: That’s her work number

Julie: Were you by chance able to talk to her?

Me: (With eyes rolling and a bit of sarcasm) No, you said today was her day off. Do you have her personal number? If not I will call her tomorrow.

Julie: I thought may be she got called in or something. That was the only number she gave.

Me: I’ll try again.

So I try again. Again, I get a somewhat garbled message at the beginning and can’t figure out where I am calling. I begin trying to enter her last name into the automated directory. F-U-N-T. “That name does not exist” Maybe I typed it in wrong. F-U-N-T. “That name does not exist.” So I press “0” trying to get an attendant. Nothing.

I text Julie again.

Me: I can’t find her at this number. I can’t even understand what they are saying on the message. She’s not in the directory.

Julie: That’s weird that you can’t locate Ella Funt at the Jackson Zoo.

And here’s your sign MacKenzie. Here’s your SIGN! If you still haven’t gotten it, run the name together. EllaFunt. Also known as Elephant.

The worst part is that she pulled the same April Fool’s joke on our brother, sister and parents. My mom warned my younger sister. That sister warned my brother. NOBODY WARNED ME. NOBODY. Thanks family.

So, I figured that since the rest of my family is having a good ole laugh at my expense, the rest of the world might as well too.

Your welcome. Now go dry your tears of laughter.
MacKenzie