A couple of years ago, I was brainstorming with my husband Jack and son Robert to try to come up with a birthday gift for Uncle Bill that he would enjoy, but that wouldn't take up too much space in his life or apartment. Maybe something edible? We came up with the idea of a carved Jack-o-lantern, since Bill's birthday was so close to Halloween. This could be a centerpiece at lunch, and we thought it might bring back happy olfactory memories of his childhood. Great plan! On the morning of the birthday luncheon, Jack got started carving a small pumpkin with the design that I described to him (a simple cat-like smiling face). It was a hit! Uncle Bill loved it and suggested that we set it up on the small shelf by his front door after it had done centerpiece duty. This way it could welcome any trick-or-treaters that might happen by the next night. So the flickering electronic candle light inside the pumpkin was the last thing we saw when we left that afternoon. It was a busy holiday season for us that year, and it wasn't until Easter arrived that I had time to visit Bill again. As we chatted away on the couch, talking about holidays, I mentioned how much fun we'd had making the carved pumpkin for his last birthday. "I still have it," Bill declared. These words surprised me, but a pointing finger accompanied the statement. I couldn't resist getting up and investigating in the area of the desk to see what might be there. Indeed, I found a remarkable sight. Upon the top layer of a set of plastic inboxes near the desk was a shriveled pumpkin, no more just orange in color, but rather multicolored, sporting orange, black, yellow, and white patches of various types of mold! The face was still there, but shortened. The battery-operated candle was nearby, not a prisoner within the orb, as I'd first suspected. There was no discernable smell at all. Alert to the dangers of mold, I offered to carefully dispose of this treasure now. Bill agreed, so I suggested we say our last goodbye to the object as I photographed it for posterity and carried it off to be entombed in double plastic ziploc gallon baggies! (And I made sure the inbox was disinfected.) Upon reflection, I concluded that Bill had probably had to state his wishes many times to the cleaning staff in order to keep this pumpkin gift, since they would certainly have wanted to dispose of it. The fact that the light had been removed in a timely fashion and placed beside the pumpkin corpse leads me to this conclusion, as well as the fact that Bill knew exactly where it was when the subject came up. He really must have loved that birthday gift. That really warms my heart. Of course, the photo is pretty cool too. Fun times!