Dear LPG,

I am actually writing this in the hope that LPG will put it on their website on April Fool’s Day 2019 and I need to start by telling you that I am the original April fool even though, as a person who celebrates their birthday every April fool’s day, and does not really like a big fuss, I should really have known better.

This time last year I found myself the victim of a rather elaborate prank and I would like to pass on my story so that perhaps when it is payback time in 2020 I will be armed.

My brothers and sister thought that it would be a good idea to pick on me last year and they set up their prank quite a bit in advance of the day itself.  In mid-March the three of them started to tell me about a family get together that we all needed to attend on the very day.  I was told about a long lost cousin that they had discovered whom we were going to meet for the first time, and they took a lot of time to stress the day of the dinner and the fact that we had to be on time. 

The big day came, and you will remember that it fell on a Sunday last year.  They picked the restaurant and my daughter collected me and I turned up together with siblings, cousins and other members of my extended family. Dinner was really good but I was the only one who kept asking about this so called new family member and, I have to admit that everyone else around the table just told me that the guest of honour would arrive shortly. 

 At my age my birthday was the last thing on my mind and the arrival of the person we were expecting was intriguing to say the least.  There was lots of talk but not much about the person we were waiting for and when I asked questions my family just kept telling me how much she had in common with me and that I was the guest of honour.

At the end of dinner the birthday cake was brought out and it was revealed that this was a birthday dinner organised for me.  It was really nice to realise how much trouble they had been to and I really felt like the original April fool again at the grand age of 80.

While I did enjoy myself and want to really thank them for the day, I would really like to know if any reader has any idea of a good prank I could generate for next year.  I would truly like to, as they say, pay them back (in a nice way).

FW, Camberwell