I grew up in the (original) Mickey Mouse Club ear. (M-I-C-K-E-Y, M-O-U-S-E...you can practically hear the music!) That is to say, our family didn't have TV, but my good friend Chickie's family did. And sometimes I was allowed to go over to her house and watch TV. Mickey Mouse was adorable. He had big black ears and he had all sorts of fun adventures. He's probably still on American TV today, entertaining generations of unsuspecting children.

But before Mickey entered my life, I learned about the Three Blind Mice. They seemed pretty innocent. All in all, I grew up thinking mice were these cute little harmless things with noses that wiggled. Some of them could even sing and dance.

This is a true story. It really, truly happened. The very first time I ever saw a little gray mouse in our home out here in Cameroon, I thought he was way too cute for words. I actually  stooped down and tried talking to him. He just wiggled his nose at me and scampered off. Way, way too cute for words! But alas, a couple days later I was getting something out from the back of our closet when I discovered, to my shock and horror, just how destructive these adorable little critters actually were. How dare he (or maybe it was a she?) chew through my valuables! In a moment of time mice became my sworn enemy. “The only good mouse is a dead mouse” became my motto. The battle lines were drawn.

All down through these last 25 years, any mouse (adorable or not) who has the audacity to squeeze under the kitchen door to begin setting up housekeeping, is living on borrowed time. We've tried all sorts of ingenious mouse traps. Recently Jim walked into the kitchen early in the morning to find two, not one but two, mice caught in the same trap! They were too young to spring the trap alone. It took the weight of the second one joining his brother at the peanut banquet, to bring about their quick demise. And then we discovered “Mouse Trap Glue”. It's made of cardboard folded in half. When opened, with the sticky glue side up, it becomes a serious trap. The more they wiggle and try to get away, the more firmly they are glued down. The only problem is the trap does not kill them. But it's not a serious problem for this Old Grandmother. I am surrounded by plenty of big, strong men, who willingly empty mouse traps for me.