Puppy
Friday, July 2, 2010 at 01:28PM We have a long history with "Puppy." First introduced to our oldest daughter, Audra, when she was just a baby, Puppy has been a full-fledged member of our family for 14 years. He used to play music when we pulled on him and he fit in nicely with our nursery theme of 101 Dalmatians, which our four kids much too quickly outgrew. Although they outgrew the nursery theme, Audra never outgrew her love of Puppy.
Here she is, at the age of 3, holding Puppy while cuddling her cousin, Travis, with baby Sierra looking on happily from the stroller.
Life was good!
Eleven years have passed and much has changed. Puppy no longer plays music and is no longer classified as white, but something more of the grayish hue variety (despite his weekly trips through the washing machine). Puppy's blue plastic eyes have been rubbed and scratched, to give them what we all now call, cataracts. Poor Puppy is thread-bare in many places and Audra's Nana has stitched and re-stitched many seams that have failed to hold. But through it all, Puppy has spent every night of his little stuffed life sleeping with Audra.
This past week, Audra has been away at Young Life camp. She came to me the day she left and said, "Mom, I have something important to ask you. I don't want anything to happen to Puppy and if I take him to camp, he might get lost. I need you to sleep with him every night while I'm gone. Promise?" With this, she handed him to me, ever so tenderly.
I agreed to her request and have been sleeping with Puppy all week. We are all so excited to have our sweet Audra home after a long week without her. She gets in tonight and I know she'll be happy to see all of us, including her beloved Puppy. Life is good!
Reader Comments (2)
I remember Puppy! As its shine has faded over the years, Audra's has just blossomed, and will continue to do so with each passing year! Beautiful picture, Audra, of you with your faithful Puppy! Terri
Thanks, Terri! Not many people remember Puppy from the early days....I know you do. Thanks for the compliments....you made Audra smile. She is growing, so quickly, into a young lady and it warms my heart that there's still such a big part of her that is still a little girl. She's as sweet today as she was when she was 3!