Judys

Most small children have a comfort item of some kind or another a bear, a blankie, a chewie, a something. Mine was a dog, a rather large dog. Her name was Judy (at the time I got her we had a real dog named Judy). I loved my stuffed Judy and took her every where with me. Every summer I flew from Florida to Oklahoma (usually alone), and most summers my mom would tell me Judy is too big you can't take her. If you want to take something smaller you can but Judy's just too big. Every summer I would take my backpack that was supposed to be filled with things to entertain a small child traveling half-way across the country, and fold and squish my Judy in there. She always fit. Sometimes I would take her out on the airplane, sometimes I'd wait until I was safely in Oklahoma but I always took her. I couldn't sleep without her.

Eventually I stopped taking Judy every where I went.

The first time I was going to Scott's dad's house in Tulsa I was a little nervous, I had never met his dad before. I was going to have to sleep in Scott's room alone and I'm a little bit scared of new places and the dark. But, I sucked it up and went. So, the first night I was getting in to bed and I looked up on a high shelf and saw a very familiar friend looking back at me...it was JUDY! Not, my Judy a slightly cleaner, not so loved Judy but all the same it was a Judy.

From that moment on I plotted my kidnapping of that dog, I thought all I would need was a backpack, turns out Scott's Judy was not as flexible as my Judy. But, I got her all the same. So, for your viewing pleasure here is the Judys!

My Judy is on the left (notice she is blind in one eye now) and Scott's Judy is on the right. My Judy looks so loved!