A Stuffed Animal from the Past

A few weeks ago, I decided (or rather was forced) to clean out my closet, and remove clothes and other items from my childhood that I had outgrown. I had wanted to save this task for next year, like in spring....hence, the word spring cleaning, but my words of wisdom fell flat on a certain family member's ears. So I sluggishly started this dreadfully boring task in a sleepy state of mind....yawn.

So after working a couple of hours, and filling bags with really faded T-shirts and other too tight outfits, I came across a pair of roller skates (mind you, I said skates not blades), and a stuffed teddy bear, that is at least a couple of decades old. The teddy bear was in tatters, had a hole in its neck, and had arms that looked so drab, it was rather pathetic. I, however, felt unhappy to part with this teddy bear, who I had christened Tommy back in the day when I was little. So to throw him out seemed almost sinful. My mom suggested that I put him in the washer so that Tommy could have a much needed bath, and also offered to stitch up the hole in the neck.

After Tommy went through the surgery of having his neck stitched up, and having the wash, he came back fresh, and while not looking like a newbie imported from China (i.e., he was imported from Taiwan, back when that was the most popular country from where toys came from), I accepted him graciously. He now inhabits a spot on my bed, with my other stuffed animal - a dog, named Benny, whom I adopted (i.e., he had once belonged to someone else, but I am not sure who....he had been on sale in a second-hand store). See picture - they make quite a pair.