Personal Narrative: Why I Love Frogs

I have loved frogs my entire life, almost to the point of obsession. I have three amazing and hilarious fire-bellied toads, a healthy frog pond ecosystem in my backyard, and have labored over hundreds of pieces of artwork featuring frogs in my lifetime. But my unusual passion for frogs raises a simple question: Why? Why have I loved frogs from such a young age? People used to ask me this question all the time, and I would simply reply, “I have just loved frogs my whole life! I don’t really know why.” But in the back of my mind, I wondered, “Is that really true? Is there really no reason?” It was only a few years ago that I asked this question aloud. “You don’t know?” Mommy asked me, somewhat incredulously, “Of course you know!” The answer lied, she explained, in a single gift my grandfather, Poppy, gave me when I was just three days old- a frog stuffed animal I later named Froggy.

It was just days before my mother was scheduled to have a C-section for my birth. My mother’s father, Poppy, was running a sign business at the time, called Goshen Signs. Because he was an entrepreneur, Poppy was part of the Westchester Chamber of Commerce, a kind of support group made up of other business owners. One business owner happened to sell gift baskets for different occasions. As I was going to be born that April 6th, Poppy asked for a basket for a newborn, without specifying my gender. In return, he received a green ribbon adorned, gender neutral basket, which he brought with him when Grammy, my grandmother, and Poppy drove up to Memphis, Tennessee to see me. In it, were green baby clothes, toys, and a pastel green TY baby frog stuffed animal. I later came to call this stuffed frog Froggy. At first, I did not really care for the stuffed toy, my mother told me. “What do you mean?” I asked, having never remembered a time I did not treasure the stuffed frog. “I’ve always loved Froggy, haven’t