Egg-cited for Ikkis

Back in 1987, Nancy Reagan sent my dad a wooden chicken egg. That year, she sent out these wooden eggs to around 50 cartoonists and artists across the U.S. Ever curious about why the White House kicked off the Annual Easter Egg Roll? Check out this link for a bit of American history: https://www.whitehousehistory.org/questions/what-is-the-history-of-the-white-house-easter-egg-roll

Mrs. Nancy Reagan checks her Easter egg collection at the White House March 28, 1988. The wooden eggs, decorated by famous American artists and cartoonists, are on display each year during the holiday. (UPI PHOTO/Mary Anne Fackelman-Miner/FILES)

This is the egg Dad submitted:

Yes, Sir. That's My Baby.

Back when Reagan was running the show, the Smithsonian Museum had a prized possession. But when he packed up and headed back to California, Nancy made sure all her eggs were in one basket—literally! Now, those eggs are living it up as part of the permanent collection at the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library. https://g.co/kgs/Ts3fLXa.

The only reason I know where the egg is, is because my superhero husband Steve played detective and found it. We, the Matsumotos, were so caught up in the egg-citement that we didn't even snap a pic before Dad shipped it off. I vaguely remember seeing it, but hey, I was a teenage girl back then, lost in my own dramatic universe.

Fast forward 35 years:

I ended up marrying my high school best friend after we reconnected. Steve heard about my dad passing away but couldn’t make it to the celebration of life. He was visiting his parents in town and asked if we could grab dinner. I was tied up, so we settled for breakfast the next morning. It felt like no time had passed—everything just clicked. I had always seen Steve as just a friend, but hey, we’re adults now. After breakfast, we were texting, and I joked, "Wouldn't it be funny if we ended up together after ALL these years?" Turns out, that caught his attention because, apparently, I was his ONE. You know, the ONE.

Breakfast was April 4, 2015 at Fowler Street Grill

Engaged July 3, 2015 Cabin at Lake Cumberland, KY (dinner at Texas Roadhouse)

Married July 19, 2015 at the table at Joe's Crab Shack (downtown Fort Myers)

At some point, I brought up the egg and thought it’d be awesome to see it again. Maybe we could plan a family trip to D.C. to check it out. Then, in 2018, the book idea popped up, and I mentioned the egg again, wondering if the Smithsonian would let us snap a photo of it. Steve grinned and said, "it's actually in California." He shared how he contacted the Smithsonian, told them our story, and they were so moved that they helped him track it down. The photo above is the museum's inventory pic.

Alright, let's rewind to 1987. After the egg was sent to Nancy, my mom decided to host her own egg show at the Matsumoto Gallery. Naturally, I had no clue what Dad's egg looked like for this event since, of course, there were no photos. Mom's eggs were a bit different from Nancy's because she handed out Ostrich eggs to local artists. Just the other day, I got a message from the granddaughter of the person who bought his. Check out these cute pics:

It honestly made me tear up when I saw he named her "Amybird." That was his nickname for me.

Thanks a ton for sharing your old Ikki with us! If you've got anything else you'd like to share, just shoot me a message with some pics.

Stay inspired,

Amy