Childhood.

Today’s prompt was about a favorite toy.

This really got me looking back.

I know I know–we are so attractive.

So as I reflected back on my childhood and my go-to toys I recall my good friend “Buddy”. He was a stuffed bear that I got as a present from my Aunt. I loved him! He was little and filled with little beans, so he was fun to carry around and snuggle. I would sleep with him every night and honestly had an adjustment period when I stopped sleeping with him.

I remember one “traumatic” event with Buddy…
We were on a family trip at Lake Powell with a few other families that had rented a house boat with us. My family had driven 7ish hours to get to the lake and our parents were busy getting all our food, luggage, etc. on the boat. My sisters and I had been playing in the dock and I, of course, had Buddy in my arms. As I took a step onto the boat Buddy slipped out of my hands into the water. I, naturally, screamed and freaked out. This resulted in one of the dads jumping in the water and snatching up Buddy who had already started to sink.

It’s strange how clear that moment is for me. I also recall deciding that Buddy was deaf, after watching a Reading Rainbow episode about sign language. I would make crazy sporadic movements with my hands and do the same with his–pretending that we were communicating.

I even remember trying to convince him that it was “Ok!” He could come alive when I was in the room, I wouldn’t mind! This was, of course, after coming home from seeing The Toy Story in theaters.

Oh, childhood. How simple & sweet.