"Did you have a favorite toy?'
Before I started school my mother made my two brothers and I a stuffed animal. Mrs. Ivers, a lady that lived two houses down from us (when we lived on the beach) had a pattern for a Teddy Bear. Mrs. Ivers went to the Salvation Army and bought coats, then cut the bears out using the fur lining. Probably my bear was made with material from the same source. When the bear was completed Mom made sure that we understood that the bear was for ALL THREE of us.
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| Teddy |
It soon became a problem for me - the little brothers just threw him in the toybox! I can remember crying at night until Mom or Dad found Teddy and placed him next to me in bed. HE WAS MINE THROUGH AND THROUGH! For a long time I thought that if anything bad was about to happen to me at night (a burglar or a fire in the house perhaps) Teddy would become REAL and save me!
I slept with Teddy for years and years, long after I should have. In my teen years I could prop him right under my great big rollers and then be able to have a good nights sleep - once again Teddy to the rescue!
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| Lori Maloney and me in Butte |
When I had my daughters, I thought that Teddy would probably be okay with giving up his life for three new Teddys for the girls. I told Mom I thought maybe we could tear him apart and use him for a pattern. She talked me out of it and made a valiant attempt to make a Teddy for each of the little girls.
