Toy Lovie

Before Sarah Graves was born we received a gift of a small bear attached to a square of blanket from Aaron's cousin, Melanie. It was a sweet gift and the square of blanket had a soft fleecy fabric as well as satin and the bear had soft fur. Sometime during her first year Sarah Graves attached herself to it and to her blankie. We began calling the toy bear her lovie. She would later differentiate it from her grandmother by calling it her toy lovie and made sure to let you know if wasn't the same as her grandma lovie! 

Her lovie has been by her side since. She brought it to school, she needed it for car rides, for bedtimes, and for outings. It was her comfort. She rubbed the fur in a soothing way to fall asleep and it was how you knew she was tired or feeling very relaxed. Over the years the pink faded after many washings and the fur started to have bare patches. When I read The Velveteen Rabbit, I envision her lovie becoming real. The kind of love a child has for that special toy that means the world to them.

Last week we couldn't find her lovie when we got home from school. We looked all over the house, but finally decided it must have been left behind at school. The next morning, she anxiously checked her cubby for it at school and was devastated to see it wasn't there. We asked her teachers to help us look, I checked lost and founds, and checked the house and car one more time, but it wasn't there. I held her in her classroom as she cried wanting her lovie. My heart broke for her when I saw her look around at her friends watching and she decided to fight back her tears so she didn't look like a baby. She was brave, but heart sick about what was lost. We have prayed that the special toy would somehow find its way back to us, but it has not. 

She made these drawings of it. Showing the color of the fur and the little flowers that were on the bottom. Her second drawing shows how the bear had a rattle in it that made a sound helping us find it many nights!

She has found a way to go to sleep without it, but she continues to hope it will be returned.