Tuesday, May 27, 2008

My "Velveteen"

So I am guessing that many people have that one stuffed animal that they mauled and loved all the fur off of. I would like to say that I unashamedly have one. One of my first memories is picking "Yuffy" out at KB toys and telling my mom that she was what I wanted from Santa Clause. Santa brought her and we have been inseparable ever since. There was never a sleepover or vacation I went to that she didn't attend also.

I don't remember when she truly became "real" to me. It may have been when I burned her paw on the stove while holding her on the counter helping my dad make breakfast. Or it may have been when her leg started to fall apart. But I have a feeling that she became "real" long before that.

I remember letting her drink out of the drinking fountain at church and stuffing food in her mouth at dinner time. I carried her everywhere and dubbed her "Yuffy". She was my favorite toy. She has gone everywhere with me ever since.

As life's storms and typhoons hit i would retreat to my room, grab Yuffy and wipe my eyes with her ears. There was nothing else that could comfort me as she did. Somehow holding her and drenching her with my tears always made me feel better.

Now at the present time as I lay in my bed at night I hold Yuffy and my eyes are drawn to her ragged dress, her sewn up leg, and her loved off fur and I question what others would think of her and how nobody in their right mind would put any kind of worth on her. However, she is worth everything in the world to me.

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real." "Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit. "Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt." "Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?" "It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in your joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

This makes me think about our Heavenly Father and how he loves and cherishes each of us. We are all "real" to him. There are many whose "hair has been loved off" and appear "shabby" because of the harsh storms of life. and I sometimes look upon these people and prejudge them and don't treat them as people who are just as equal in worth as I am. However, if we are able to see others, soul to soul, and see into their hearts, none of those things will matter because they will become "real" to us and they will no longer be ugly, except to the people who don't understand....

2 comments:

Marci said...

Wow, Katy.
I am really impressed. I loved your post. I have a little camel at home that has all the fuzz picked out of it, and also a doll named "punkin" and I think both of her arms are hanging on by threads. poor doll. She is loved so much though. What you wrote is really true!

Marcie said...

Awesome. I loved this.