How the lion got his "roar"

Once upon a time in 2012, there was a 30ish year old girl.

She wanted to get the boy she loved a Hanukkah gift.

So she asked her eldest son what they should make.

Her son said, "Let's make him a lion!  He loves lions!"

So together they went in search of a lion that they could make.

The girl found a 3-D lion puzzle that she and her son could make together.  The son would paint it, and the girl would put it together.  It would be perfect!

Exhibit A: Front cover of lion puzzle.

So the girl and her son went about decorating the puzzle. There were four flat wooden sheets, and each sheet was punched so that individual pieces could be popped out.  The son diligently painted four sides of the puzzle one night, and then left them to dry.  A couple nights later, he diligently painted another three sides.  Then he got tired and colored the last one in with marker.

He was proud.

He decorated the lion!

Then it was the girl's turn.  She was to put the lion together.

She felt very much like a girl, and not a woman.

Because....

SHE WAS STUCK.

Exhibit B:  Why the girl was stuck.

The girl tried and tried.  It did not work.  

Hanukkah was one night away.  She kept trying.

It was the 1st night.  She kept trying.

The 3rd night.  She kept trying.

The 7th night.  She gave up.

In desperation the girl asked the boy, "Please can you put this $%&* puzzle together?!  Your son worked very hard on decorating it for you and I can't seem to make it work.  I get stuck at step 2."

The boy laughed.  "Sure," he said.

He tried to put the puzzle together.

He, too, failed miserably.

The boy and the girl were sad.

The flat sheets that-were-not-a-lion sat on the girl's desk.  

Hanukkah ended.

December ended.

January ended.

The son completely forgot about the lion.

Then the boy had an idea.  "Let's send it to your dad!"  he cried out.  "He's a mechanical engineer.  If anyone can figure out this lion, he can."

"But... he lives in Israel," the girl said in confusion.

"So what?  It's not like we're doing anything with it here.  If you pack it up, I'll mail it out to him."

So she did.  And so he did.

And less than three weeks later, a package arrived in the mail.  It contained a note.

Exhibit C: The note.

The girl's dad had put together the lion one day when he was home sick!  It took him three hours to do it.  

(And he later explained over the phone that it would have been much quicker except that Step 1 of the instructions were wrong.  So he ignored the instructions completely and did it "by instinct."  The girl possesses no such instincts.  Whatsoever.  In her entire body.)

The girl's dad also sent Israeli chocolate in the package. :)

And finally, the boy had his Hanukkah lion.  In March.

Exhibit D: Boy and his lion!

And this, my friends, is the story of how the lion got his "roar."

ROAR!