The Joy of Eneman

My friend Michelle (a.k.a. Auntie Michelle) works at the Huntsman Cancer Institute. IN the Spring of 2008 she called me and invited our family to visit her at the Children's Discovery Museum. The Cancer Institute was setting up a display in one of the museum rooms to promote colon cancer awareness. She said there would be a giant blow-up colon the kids could walk through and that she would be dressed in an enema costume. How could I refuse such a lovely invitation?

The display didn't disappoint us. We laughed a lot - especially seeing Michelle in dressed as an enema. I told her she deserved a huge raise.

Before we left, she loaded us up with a bunch of pamphlets and samples of sunscreen. Then she gave Adam and Ethan each an Eneman doll.  Who in the world thought of creating a doll in the shape of an enema? I didn't even want the kids to take the ugly things home but Michelle pretty much forced them on us. There was a big basket full of them - definitely not a "must-have" item for anyone.

Eneman was made of soft foam and covered with a luxurious plastic coating. Ethan tore his to pieces on the car ride home. Adam's sat on his bedroom dresser for months. Then, we started packing for our summer trip to Yosemite. My dad and Claudia had rented cabins there for all of their kids and grand kids so we could all enjoy a vacation together. At the last minute, I threw Eneman in my suitcase. It was time for him to have a new home and I knew my dad had the sense of humor to really appreciate Eneman and to take good care of him.

On our last day in Yosemite, I tucked Eneman into the bottom of my dad's suitcase without his knowledge.
In November, my dad and Claudia came to Salt Lake to spend Thanksgiving with us along with Julie's family and Megan and Luke. We decided to have a white elephant gift exchange that would take the place of us all sending Christmas gifts to each other the following month. After dinner, we all sat around the gifts stacked on the living room table. We drew numbers and took a present according to our number. I was number 6. When it was my turn, I analyzed all of the wrapped presents. I was hoping I wouldn't get anything too hideous. When I opened my chosen gift, Eneman was inside! I started laughing and said that I had forgotten all about him. Claudia pointed an accusing finger at me and said she guessed it had to be me that put it in my dad's suitcase! We were all laughing hysterically. So, I took Eneman home with me and put him back on Adam's dresser. A few days later, my sister Megan came to our house to take pictures of Adam and Ethan for our Christmas cards. While she was out in the yard with the kids I hid Eneman in a pocket on her camera bag. Soon, Eneman was on his way home with Megan to Las Vegas!

Several months later, Megan and Luke delivered some family "heirloom" furniture to us that they had hauled in a trailer from Las Vegas. When they got to our house and we started hauling all of the furniture in, I told them I was checking all of the drawers to make sure Eneman wasn't in any of them. Megan admitted she had lost Eneman but she knew she would eventually find him. I was so disappointed that they had misplaced Eneman, but I still checked the furniture drawers just to make sure he wasn't lurking in one of them. They left pretty quickly after the delivery. A few days later I found Eneman in one of the nightstand drawers. My sister was so devious! She was smart enough to slip Eneman in a drawer after I had checked them all.

Eneman's next stop was Los Angeles. Adam was going to spend two weeks with my dad and Claudia during the summer and I packed Eneman with him with strict instructions to leave him somewhere so they wouldn't find him until after Adam was back home. He left it on Claudia's sewing machine. Adam was long gone from L.A. when she discovered Eneman.

My dad came for a visit in October. I knew Eneman would be with him. I secretly searched his luggage but there was no sign of the doll. A few months later I found him in a box of instant oatmeal packets in our pantry.

The next stop for Eneman was Palm Springs. My dad and Claudia gave us a few days in their Palm Springs timeshare so Jeff and I and some friends could go to watch the tennis tournament in nearby Indian Wells. We were going to vacate the condo on Monday morning and my dad and Claudia were coming Monday afternoon to stay in the same condo with some of their friends for a few days. Before we left, we scrubbed the place clean and left Eneman in the shower of the master bedroom. My dad found him that night.

Unfortunately, I forgot my jacket and a library book when we left the Palm Springs condo. Claudia found them and promised to mail them to me when she got back to L.A. A few weeks later, the package arrived with my jacket, library book and Eneman tucked inside an old, ugly sock. He's back with me again. We're going on another family trip with my dad and Claudia and all of my siblings and their families this summer. We'll be at Bear Lake. Eneman will arrive with me but will definitely be taking a trip back with an unsuspecting family member.