Dear Reader:

I assume that this (most likely) was my first baby doll given to me while I was still a ‘baby doll.’

I had planned to save these memoir stories for tomorrow….officially Mother’s Day….but I am keeping Eva Cate and Jake tonight so  John can take Mandy out for a well-deserved “Mother’s Out“/8th wedding anniversary/ evening. I am, also, spending the night to be there for Mother’s Day Sunday. So….for everyone….mothers, aunts, godmothers, grandmothers, mentors….Happy Mother’s Day!

As a child I loved dolls….they were very real to me and I was their mother. I loved dressing them up, combing their hair….the whole nine yards. The other day when I glanced over at Polly, the doll I was given for my fifth birthday….I realized, with a start, that the two of us have been together longer than anyone else in my life (except my older brother and we don’t see each other daily…like Polly and me.)

Wow! Being the age I am at present….subtracting five years off for Polly’s age….we have been together for many decades….now two “old broads.” If Polly could talk what stories she could regale back to my fading memory. All I know is that I loved her so much as a child and she came into my life (daddy had died six months earlier) when I most needed a soul-mate…a friend.

And if we are really lucky….isn’t that what we want to end up being with our adult children….a friend?

Eva Cate got to hold Polly (carefully) when she came over one summer day as a little tot. Even Eva Cate (who has a history of being hard on dolls) seemed to sense that there was something about Polly that demanded respect and tender holding.

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Mandy was never that into dolls as a little girl. She ended up breaking so many we finally decided on a Raggedy Anne doll and the survival rate went up.

A few months back…Eva Cate spent the night with me and helped me check the mail…as luck would have it there was an American Girl Doll catalogue  in the mailbox and she went berserk. She wanted an American doll more than anything….some of her friends had gotten one for Christmas and that was the only thing she wanted for her birthday.

She was terribly worried that Mandy and John wouldn’t let her have one since she had a poor track record with dolls….naked and scalped. So I told her to start putting her dolls up…preferably with clothes and hair and showing her parents that she was now “besponsible.”

It was a hard sale but I kept reminding Mandy that I got Polly when I was five and still had her. I ordered Eva Cate a “Truly Me’ American Girl Doll with brown hair and green eyes to resemble her “mother.’

I missed the birthday party since I was in the mountains but John made a video of Eva Cate opening up the doll (gift) after the party when she was back home. I have watched it at least 20 times….to hear that special squeal of excitement in her voice is intoxicating.. She named the doll Gracie and the last time I checked she had clothes  and hair….so far, so good. Will be checking in again this afternoon.

https://goo.gl/photos/nikBzrDEmwWxTGGm8

I have discovered now, having been a mother and a grandmother for six years that grandmothers have more perspective on each grandchild and what they like…because we have some distance on the subject, not having to address all the everyday issues with small children that weigh the best of parents down. (God is wise in allowing parenthood to just go around the carousel of life once.)

*All that said, I knew intuitively that if Rutledge had been with me yesterday he would have gone bonkers at what happened. I became a magnet, of some sort, for beautiful antiquated, classic trucks and cars. *Easter photo….Rutledge had to hold one truck in one hand while he picked up eggs with the other…he can not ever be completely empty-handed when it comes to trucks.

Scenario 1: As I was pulling into Lowe’s I spotted the most gorgeous red (classic) truck I had ever seen. I found myself stalking the truck and driver until he pulled into a parking place. I parked quickly beside him and asked if I could take a few pictures of his truck for my grandson, Rutledge.

I definitely caught the poor man off-guard but the longer I babbled the more friendly he became. He told me the truck was a 1933 Ford pick-up. He ended up letting me take pictures of the truck from every angle, inside and out as he proudly showed it off

You could tell that this was his “doll baby…his Polly.” It was so clean you could eat off of it. Before I left he told me to let Rutledge know to save his pennies every day in a piggy bank and one day he would sell the truck to him. Nice man! We introduced ourselves but I didn’t catch his last name…just his first…so I called him Mr. John.

Scenario 2: Later in the day I went to Ridgeville with a friend to ‘hit’ Dukes Barbecue for lunch. As I left and walked outside…smack dab in front of the restaurant… was a classic car. Since the owner was obviously still wolfing down his plate, like I did, I didn’t get any history on the car, but the beauty of it speaks for itself.

So until tomorrow….Thank you God for mothers who loved and cared for us and for Your Personal back-up for others who needed a “parent” (mother/father) to help them through childhood. (and on-going adulthood)

“Today is my favorite day”  Winnie the Pooh

HAPPY MOTHER’S DAY EVERYONE!