Today's prompt is: Share a photo of something old. Maybe something that has personal history for you, that was passed down to you, and that has special meaning to you. Tell us about it and why it's special.
Ya'll, I collect old things, and not just your random old things, I'm talking about the "this belonged to so-and-so" old things. I have a good collection of things that were part of my family history. Some examples: I have my grandfather's SLR camera, the one that I always remember him having from the time I was little. Sometimes I unpack it from its bag and hold it in my hands and remember. One day it will be taken to a camera shop where it can be given a proper once-over so that it can be used.
That camera, and several other things, are things I would grab in a fire.
Especially this guy:
Snuggles, meet everyone.
Everyone, meet Snuggles.
Snuggles is twenty-nine (or so) years old and, as you can tell, has seen better days. His arms and legs are floppy and he's not as soft as he used to be, but he's mine.
He has been my longest running best friend.
Snuggles has been with me through every scary thunderstorm, every ear infection, every hospital trip, every broken heart, and every "I hate my life" period. He has been cried on, puked on, chewed on, and fever-broke on. He's had chicken pox, bronchitis, ear infections, stomach bugs, viral infections.....(Yea, I was a sickly child....and honestly because I could just look at someone who was sick and I would get it.)
Anyway, he's been through a lot.
He doesn't say much, but he knows everything about me.
He has been living on my daughter's dresser for the past year or so.
One night several weeks ago, when I was tucking L into bed, she pointed to Snuggles on her dresser, and said, "Mommy's."
I said, "Oh yes, Snuggles was Mommy's for a long time, but Mommy brought him in here so he could watch over you."
L: "Story."
Mommy: *confused because my child has never said that word until now* "Umm, you want me to tell you a story about Snuggles?"
L: "Yes, Mommy."
So, having never made up a bedtime story before, I proceeded to tell her some crazy story of how Snuggles saved some puppies from an island in the middle of the ocean. (Yea, I know, but she's 2.....and she loves puppies....so...it kind of just happened.)
And you know what she did?
She soaked in every word of that story, and at the end, when Snuggles valiantly swam to the island, made a make shift carrier, and swam those puppies back to safety one at a time, she clapped and said, "Yaaaay!"
And my heart melted because my daughter thought that was the best story on the planet.
Because Mommy told it.
And I so needed that moment with my daughter.
Thank you Snuggles for reminding me that I'm doing good at this Mom thing.
Then again,
you always reminded me that I was okay.
