Journal prompt: Did you have a special object that you slept with?
My Journaling:
I was a huge stuffed animal collector growing up. I had so many that they pretty much could fill up my room. Growing up, I had what we referred to as my “hut.” My bed was kind of like a built-in bunk bed without a bed underneath it – instead there was a little room underneath the bed. I had some shelves for my books and other knick-knacks and then the rest of my hut was filled with stuffed animals. I loved snuggling in there and reading.
I don’t remember really sleeping with my stuffed animals – some of them did reside on the bottom of my bed. I did have a few favorites!
Whisper – is a big white unicorn that my parents brought back to me when I was about 3. They went on a trip (I think to Vegas) and brought it back to me as a souvenir. I would ride it and play with it and it was my very favorite. Even though it is really worn out – I still have it and have handed it down to my daughter – who also adores it.
Big Red – This huge bay clydesdale horse was at my grandparents house (next door). I don’t know where my grandpa got it but I begged to have it for a really long time before my grandma gave it to me. My daughter has it now.
Black Cat – Even though cats have never been my favorite, this black stuffed kitty was given to me in the hospital when I was born by my older sister. I always loved it and feel very sad since I don’t know what happened to it.
Panda Bear – My grandparents gave this to me for Christmas one year. It had really soft fur and was a treasure. My kids have it now.
Blankets – I also did have a couple of treasured blankets. One blanket was a dark pink with big blue squares (made for me when I was born by a neighbor/friend) that had different animals stitched inside. I adored this blanket and it went everywhere with me. Unfortunately, I left it at a friend’s house at a sleepover and it was never returned.
The other favorite was a baby blanket made by my great-grandma. It was a very soft pink on one side and the other side was white with tiny pink roses. There was a handstitched triangular border around it. I used it for my daughter as a baby blanket too and she used it way past toddler age before it completely fell apart.
I feel sad to not know where any photos of these are. I will have to take some photos of the ones I have left!
Each Tuesday, I am going to be offering prompts or ideas. If you don’t write in your journal regularly – I am going to encourage you to write just ONCE A WEEK and answer the question/idea that I give on Tuesdays. These ideas hopefully will spark a memory and you will be able to capture that in what you write/record so that it can be left for your children/grandchildren/family/friends. Give as much detail as you can when answering.
Will you do this for me? Will you do this for your families? You can write it down in a journal, you can type it up on a computer or journaling software, you can take a recorder and talk, you can videotape your answers, you can even scrap a page with the journaling. It doesn’t matter how you do this – it’s just important that you do it. The memories, the dates, the information is the only real thing we can leave to our families when we are gone.
