I would like you to meet the stuffed and furry family that I have had, well, most of them, since I was a baby, some were even my mom’s, and mean the world to me.

Some of you who know me, know that I have quite the collection of stuff. Stuffed this and stuffed that. My stuffed animal collection is quite something! When I lived at home, it was all on my bed and people who sometimes spent the night in my bed marveled at how I could sleep with all those things on the bed with me. They also went into overload looking at all the stuff I had on my walls. Those of you who have known me forever, I know you’re not surprised! Well, now I would like to introduce you to some friends who are incredibly important to me.

Last night, I mentioned Winnie the Pooh, I’ve had him since I was a baby. One thing you might notice is that he has two red discs on his chest, those were buttons for the blue felt vest he wore, long since gone. His mouth is a meer scrap of very hard red fet, and his nose, not much different. If you look closely, you can see that his armpits have stitches in them, and oh my, but he is not the vibrant, bright yellow he started off as! He has been loved, hugged, cried on, slept on, dragged everywhere, very much loved bear, just like his namesake. I am a HUGE Winnie the Pooh fan! My first tattoo…guess who. He has gotten me through so very much!

The Winnie love fest continues, meet Gund Winnie the Pooh. He was a treasured gift from someone. He sits up, he’s not a soft bear, on the firm side, but…his joints move, so you can move his legs and arms around, love! One more teeny Winnie, I don’t remember who made him or where I got him, but he’s a love.

I am also a lover of Raggedy Ann. Do you see that pillow? My mom made that for me when she was pregnant with me, it’s something and I absolutely love it. It’s been on every bed I have ever had! You may remember it from my studio apartment when I lived in Bahston, before I moved to Hawai’i with PSM. To continue with the Raggedy Ann fest…meet my Raggedy Ann doll. He dress is very worn, her hair, still there, her face hasn’t changed, but her poor feet and legs! See the stuffing coming out of the tops of her shoes? And poor Raggedy, she broke her leg, so I put an ace bandage on it, I think I was either in high school or college and it’s been there ever since! I didn’t know how to fix it, I don’t think I could have sewn it, so…there it sits. She’s another incredibly loved friend, might be almost as many tears as Winnie!

Now, this little brown bear was one that my sister had as a child and at some point, she gae it to me and it’s stayed with me ever since, how could I let it go? That’s all, sister love.

Now, Snoopy is from childhood, he is well loved, still white, but not quite as white as he started. His eyebrows, might still be there, I think, but man oh man do I love this dog. Maybe that’s why I love our beagle Bee so much! I have to tell you…my first tattoo was a toss up between Winnie the Pooh, Kermit the Frog, and Snoopy. Winnie won out, but that’s not to say the other might not be joining him sometime in the future. What I loved about my Snoopy is that he has a wardrobe! I had so many outfits for him! My favorites…Beefeater, hat and all! Then there was the red nightshirt with the red nightcap, which inspired my own winter hat with Snoopy all over it in the shape of a stocking or night cap! Which also inspired me to ask a few people to make some for me! Camper Snoopy, Yellow Rain Slicka and Hat, again, maybe that’s why I just had to have the yellow rain booties and slicka for Bee! I know I had more, I just can’t think of them right now!

This adorable cat was made by my very talented MGS. She took a sewing class and this was one of the things she made, incredibly impressive. What I loved was why she gave it to me. When I moved to Hawai’i, I couldn’t take my cats with me and I was sad. Her first thought, to her mom, my sister, “Let’s get Aunt J a cat!” “Um, no, I don’t think that would be a good idea” A sweet idea, but not a great idea! Then…she had a great idea…this cat and I simply love it! I traveled with it, it stayed in my bag and I actually took it on the road with me when I traveled for work, love…it!

The bright orange bear with the green shirt isn’t very old, but it is from the school that my mom taught at in Brooklyn: Edward R Murrow High School. She bought it to support the theatre department, which was fantastic! I remember going to many shows at her school, they inspired me to want to do something with theatre when I went to college.

Now…let’s talk about my last two. The first one is the turtle, it’s actually a musical turtle. It plays Frere Jacques, which some kids also know as Where is Thumbkin, if the melody sounded familiar. But now when I play it, it’s a little slower, sounds like it’s winding down. This is a much loved turtle, the fur isn’t as soft as it once was, but his felt feet are all still there and he is so very much loved. I remember playing with him and sleeping with him when I stayed at my grandmother’s house when I was a kid.

The next is this terry cloth dog with a vest and bow tie on. Notice…he is painted exactly the same on both sides! LOVE! I have to be equally careful with him, you can start to see the seams fraying, but he’s still a very dapper dog. He’s another one I used to play with and sleep with at my grandmother’s house, and now he’s with me.

Want to know what’s so very special about these two? They were my mom’s own stuffed lovies, I played with them as a kid and now, I get to love on them for as long as I can. Those two I only look at, talk to once in a while and leave lovingly on the shelf, they’re old and delicate and it just means so much that they are with me. For now, they’ll sit on the shelf and be loved above my head!

I still have more stuffed loves, but these are the ones that I keep with me always, they have a long, much loved, and happy history. I don’t know where our next adventure will take us, but one thing I know…they are all going with me.