How many old ladies still have their favorite stuffed animal?

I wonder how many old ladies still have their favorite stuffed animal from their toddler years.  I still have my Scotty dog….he is an awful old mess, but I still have him.

When he was new, he was fuzzy and white.  Because he was a Scotty, he wore a plaid tam on his head.  I don’t remember if his collar was plaid or solid red.  Best of all, he had a music box that played “Oh, where, oh, where, has my little dog gone?” 

I had other stuffed animals, but Scotty was my favorite.  He was hugged and loved throughout my childhood.  After suffering that abuse, he held the place of honor on my bed each day throughout my teen years.  Eventually, the metal edge of his music box wore a hole in his side.  Since the music box no longer worked, I decided to take it out.  I carefully made the slit large enough to remove the box, stuffed the hole with cotton and sewed him back up.

Scotty went off to nursing school and college with me and always sat on my bed during the day.  I actually think I slept with him until I got married.  Our first bed had a bookcase headboard, and he sat there for years.

For some reason, I thought about him when I woke up this morning.  Where did I put him?  As soon as I rolled out, I went looking and remembered he was now on the bed in the guest room.

So here he is…..70 years old, no fuzz left, scarred from his music box surgery, hat long gone, but he still has both of his red button eyes.  

I’m chuckling over the thought of taking him with me to the nursing home someday.