Your Favorite Childhood Toys

This is super simple!! I have had the same "favorite" toys for who knows how long.  Zipper & Crystal.  Zipper ( the monkey) I have has since I was super young and Crystal was given to me when we were taken to a women's shelter.  I was young enough that I don't remember being there I just remember my love for this stuffed rabbit. I still have these faithful friends because I'm a sentimental hoot and hold on to silly things.

 When I was a kid we had a secret word and if my parents weren't around and someone told me they were sent for me I wasn't suppose to go with them unless they knew the secret word.  The word was Zipper.  I remember how I liked to chew on his banana. lol  Poor thing has a hole in it now.  My kids enjoy playing with him even though he's kinda falling apart. (that makes me nervous!)

  A weird but memorable story of Crystal is how I almost lost her.  My dad is bi-polar and for the majority (all) of my childhood it wasn't under control.  One afternoon, I was about 5, I upset him somehow.  He was yelling at me and then he went and got Crystal and Zipper and told me he was going to throw them away.  He left the apartment and I watched sobbing  from a window as he took my two favorite things in the whole world to the dumpster.  I vowed right then that I hated him and I could never forgive him for what he was doing.  Pretty strong feelings for a kid my age but this was serious.  I don't know where I went - I remember I use to lock myself in the hall closet when I was mad so maybe that's what I did but he returned and I didn't find out until much later that he didn't throw them away.  I of course have forgiven him but it still hurts the little girl in me to think back on.

  I cherish these stuffed animals.  They were everything to me and are still pretty important.  I see that Stevie has these stuffed Alligators and they are so special to him.  That really warms my heart because I can relate to that.  I go through a lot to protect those silly things and I hope he someday looks back and loves them the way I do mine.  ^_^