Sally

Last night I was reunited with an old and dear friend, and I am so delighted! It was a surprise reunion, planned for me by one of my newer friends. It all started a few weeks ago at my Writer's Group. We somehow got on the topic of favorite childhood toys, and I went into a reverie turned rampage about the Fisher Price Little People. When I was a young girl, I would spend hours playing with my Fisher Price Little People. I had the house, the school, the playground, the airplane...loved them all! My favorite Little People was the blond girl in the blue dress with the white collar. I named her Sally. I had all the Little People, but only Sally had a proper name. Everyone else was Sally's mom, Sally's dad, Sally's baby brother, Sally's best friend, Sally's teacher, etc. (I know. Many of you see this behavior as very incriminating evidence that self absorption began at an early age for me. In retrospect, it is quite telling to me as well!) Anyways, through the years, my family no longer called these toys the Fisher Price Little People, they were affectionately called "the Sallys" at my house. So this was the reverie part of my sharing. The rampage part of the story came when I explained that years later, when my niece Sarah (who is now 17) was turning two, I went to Toys R Us to buy her some Sallys. But I discovered at that time that they no longer made Sallys. Oh there were these fat plastic toys called Fisher Price Little People, but they did not have the cute little shape of the old wooden ones. Apparently, Fisher Price changed the design of the Little People because children had choked on the smaller (but far superior) originals. David was with me and can testify to the fact that I stood in the aisle at Toys R Us and cried. I gave up all hope of ever seeing a Sally again.

So when I showed up at my Writer's Group last night, and the leader of the group, Gena, surprised me with this gift, I was overwhelmed! She had listened carefully to my tale of Sally, and it triggered something in her memory. She went home and dug this Sally out of an old toy box in her home. It seems Sally wasn't so treasured by her daughter, and so she graciously gave her to me! This IS Sally! The REAL Sally! She looks a little worn, but then again, so do I! Her hair used to have braids, but they have broken off. That's okay...my hair has gotten more brittle over the years, too. I have already played with her a bit, but when we are not playing together, Sally will have a very special spot on my Shelf of Treasures, which hangs in my bedroom.


I think she looks happy to see me. Don't you?

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