Photo Credit: © Can Stock Photo Inc. / Nejron
My 2-year-old granddaughter Isabella drags around an 8-inch stuffed dog named Mollie, which is never out of her sight. Mollie has been to the zoo, the fair, the movies, a number of restaurants, and many stores. She’s been left behind, stained, painted, and sewn back together. An eye has been replaced and a smile sewn back on after the original stitchery gave up.
There have been attempts to replace Mollie with a newer, less “scurvy-ridden” stand-in, but to no avail. The response is always the same. “I want my Mollie.” When Mollie gets a ride in the washing machine, Izzy reminds us every 10 minutes, “I think my Mollie is done now.” When she learns that Mollie still has a half hour to go, she tries another tack. “I think my Mollie’s afraid in there and wants to see me.”
Once in a while, Mollie gets lost, and the response is equal to an AMBER Alert. Phone calls go out, a Medivac is dispatched, and a SWAT team is called in. When the missing Mollie is finally located, a broadcast email is sent to all family members with the order to “stand down.”