I was reminded of a childhood memory, that I don’t have a clue as to why it is significant, it just is. This memory was jogged by a Burn that was done on Blogg’d http://blgd.blogspot.com/ The burn was on Pinkee’s Big Days http://pinkeebigday.blogspot.com/ a blog about a pink teddybear, who goes on various adventures to state parks, and such. With the ribbing that went back and forth thru Brad’s burn and the comment section, it filled me with a morbid sense of delight, thinking of ways to roast poor little Pinkee over a bon fire, with marshmallows toasting over his/her furry little pink corpse. Sorry Charles and Carrie. (Those are Pinkee’s mom and dad) As is customary on Blogg’d, it was all in good fun! And Charles and Carrie were real troopers, having their beloved Pinkee roasted like a celebrity! Although word has it, that Pinkee IS in protective custody, and hiding out, after the death threats placed against him/her. (We haven’t figured out Pinkee’s sex yet. Yes I know he/she is pink. My thoughts exactly!)

I was taken back in memory to my own childhood, and the role a couple of stuffed animals played in it. First, to a stuffed bear I had named Babe. He was named Babe after a Sonny and Cher song, that I couldn’t possibly remember the words to now. Titled “I Got You Babe” Sonny and Cher would sing it, I think at the end of their show. And I would go to bed singing it, holding stuffed Babe up, serenading him. As foggy as my memory is, I think at one point I got caught singing this song to Babe one night, by none other then Dad.

Dad had a sense of humor that never ceased. “Anything for a laugh” most certainly came from being raised by this man, who could always find something to joke about in everyday life. His sense of humor was his signature. Capable of making everyone around him laugh hysterically, people loved being around him. Part of his humor could be biting, sarcastic, dirty and deprecating. And anyone around him was fair game, including himself.  My off key singing voice, and the fact that I was passionately singing it to a stuffed animal, made for some funny fodder.

With Dads humor, he often was the center of attention, and very dominant in conversation. With as often as he was the stand up comedian, my mother was the exact opposite. I think. I say I think, because she was quiet and reserved. A steady presence and voice of reason, when dads humor would have the house in chaotic laughter. My appreciation for deprecating humor, I know is in direct relation to my father, and the laughter that often filled my childhood home.

A few years later, my brother had a stuffed bear named Muggles. Muggles was my little brothers best friend while he was in elementary school. He took Muggles to bed with him every night, and loved him. Being the youngest of three kids with two older sisters, Theo was picked on mercilessly. My sister and I loved to put him into distress on a fairly regularly basis. He was a cute, chubby toe head, that thinking back on, I would love to gather him up in my arms, and tell him how completely adorable and precious he is. Of course now he is 6’1”, doing Triathlons, working for the State Patrol, and a Drill sergeant in the Army Reserves, so that moment has passed..

Oh but when he was little, the laughter that Theo and Muggles gave me and my sister was priceless. He cherished little Muggles, treated him kindly, with sensitivity and gentleness. And was the perfect target for two “big sisters” looking for a cheap laugh and a little fun! Theo would leave Muggles in his bedroom to eat or use the restroom, only to come back to find Trina and I beating the shit out of Muggles with our fists! He would cry, and yell at us to leave poor Muggles alone! Only to have us play catch with Muggles furry little body, bitch slapping him on occasion for good measure. At which point he would scream for mom, to come and save poor little Muggles. And we would have to back off for a little while.