See how happy Annalie is in the above photo? She’s excited because she’s about to get her very own balloon animal, at long last.

A couple of years ago, we were at Spaghetti Works, one of our favorite restaurants in Omaha, and there was a balloon lady there. Annalie saw her while we were waiting to be seated, and asked if she would come to our table. We told her that she probably would, and that she could get a balloon animal if she did. Annalie spent that whole meal waiting and waiting for the balloon lady to come around. We finally asked about her, and were told that she had to leave. Annalie was heartbroken. We assured her that the next time we were there, if the balloon lady was back, we’d be sure to ask her to stop at our table. Since then, we’ve been to that same restaurant a half-dozen times but the balloon lady has never been back.

So when the balloon man stopped at our table as we were having lunch with friends in San Diego yesterday and asked if anyone would like a balloon, I watched Annalie’s eyes light up and knew I had to say yes. She chose a zebra, and all the kids watched with fascination as a zebra with a blue mane and stripes was deftly fashioned out of several long, thin balloons and a few strokes of black Sharpie. Annalie declared her balloon zebra was named Coyote, and that she loved him and would keep him forever.

“Remember that he’s made out of balloons, and balloons tend to pop after a while,” I cautioned her. “Enjoy him and have fun playing with him while he lasts, but know that he won’t last forever.”

Annalie looked stricken for a moment and said, “But I don’t want him to pop! I love him, and I’ll take him everywhere and take really good care of him!” I told her that I knew she’d be a good mother to her balloon zebra, but I just wanted her to keep in mind that balloons don’t last, so she wouldn’t be too sad when he was gone.

Before the meal was even over, one of the balloons that made up his hind legs popped. The balloon guy happened to be passing by when it happened, and he quickly repaired the damage with another balloon, cheerfully waving off my attempt to tip him for the repair.

After lunch, we set off towards the park so the kids could run around. We’d been walking maybe five minutes when Annalie tried to hand Coyote to me, saying she was tired of carrying him. I told her that she could carry him a while longer. She shrugged and walked on ahead of me.

Five or ten minutes later, Annalie decided she was really tired of carrying Coyote. She gave him to her friend E, who carried him for a minute before deciding he didn’t really want a balloon zebra. Next Annalie tried giving the zebra to E’s sister M, who politely declined. Bug didn’t want the balloon animal either. Noah wanted him, but with the enthusiasm for life that is typical of two-year-olds, he probably would have popped the balloons within a few minutes, so his mom said no thank you for him. Annalie pressed Coyote on me again, and since I had a shopping bag by that time, I took him and placed him in the bag with my purchases.

Later, on the 90-minute drive from San Diego back to Brenda‘s house, Annalie spent a half-hour or so carefully untwisting the balloons until she had a long white snake marked with black stripes and a deflated blue balloon. Then she lost interest and abandoned the whole thing in the backseat of the car, where it slowly deflated overnight.

RIP, Coyote. You were loved briefly but fiercely, and you entertained my daughter well.