The Doll

Naissa just informed me as I uploaded this picture, "Last time I put her in the toilet".

My Sanger Grandma (yes, she lived in Sanger) one day had her head down and her whole body was shaking....worried that something might be wrong we all bombarded her with questions of "Are you okay?" and "What's wrong grandma?" only to have her gather her composure and reply, "That there is the ugliest doll I ever done seen!" and that's when we realized she was laughing....so hard that her entire body had joined in!

This was a doll that my grandpa (yes, Sanger Grandpa) had found one day in the street. My grandpa died in 1977 and this doll was STILL in the Barbie case with all the other glamorous dolls some 22 years later! Why did we keep her? It sure wasn't for her looks. But every Sunday for years and years she would get dressed up in home-made clothes my grandma had made, (though they didn't fit her very well, probably because she was "Big Boned") we would play with her alongside of Midge, Farrah Faucet (sp?), Marie Osmund, the Charlie's Angels, Old School Ken (who was huge and only had an army hat and a green corduroy homemade coat, made for Barbie), and the Sunshine Family.

Years and years of memories of dressing Barbies with Aunt Hope and Grandma. That's probably the REAL reason this doll was around for so long. Memories. We remembered that it was my grandpa who found her...in the street...and since he was gone, we cherished the memory even more. When grandma died....that doll was the first thing I thought of when asked what I wanted!

Last year my husband Jim told me to just take a picture of her and let her go. So I did. This is her picture. But sometimes I'd really like to have that ugly doll back. Memories. Good Memories.