Kayla and I took the kids for a visit
to Aunt Trudy’s house. She had two dolls
that reminded her of Kayla – and she wanted her to have them.
Aunt Trudy is a collector of
dolls. She has TONS of them. There are two display cases which house a lot
of dolls. The larger one holds her story
book collection and the smaller one contains the dolls which represent various
countries. There are also dolls
displayed on the dresser, her bed, and other shelved areas. I shouldn’t have been surprised about several
others that she had downstairs – but I was.
20 – 40 more boxes full of Madam Alexander dolls. It is mind boggling really.
Every girl in the family (including
Roland’s oldest two – amazingly) has been in the “doll” room and has coveted
various dolls and a few have even made dibs about which ones they would like to
inherit. I’m at the point now where I
just don’t care. If I don’t get any of
the dolls, it will be okay. I don’t have
room for the things I want. It seems
wasteful that the few dolls I do have (or ones that have been sent to Jenna)
are tucked away in boxes in the shed.
Aunt Trudy rarely ever lets guests
leave her house empty handed – especially the children. She has always given us shirts, stuffed
animals, knick knacks, and of course dolls.
One year she asked if Jenna would like
a doll. I said I didn’t think so. She was still young and curious and was
entertaining herself with examining polished rocks from a bowl that Aunt Trudy
kept on the coffee table.
“I think I have some more of those
rocks in my garage,” Aunt Trudy said. “Would she like to have those?”
“Oh, I believe she would love them
more than any other has ever loved any doll that you have given to anybody”
And she did. Never has Aunt Trudy received such enthusiasm
or appreciation for any doll than the amount Jenna expressed for those
rocks. She would entertain herself for
hours each day as she would sort the rocks by color, by size, by shape and by
favorites. Five or six years later (I
don’t know how old she was when she received them – but it was before
pre-school I think) she still has most of them.
And she loves them.
Jenna has ALWAYS liked balls. I think she was born LOVING them. And she has always thought of rocks as
“Nature’s balls” – or anything which is round.
She discovered a curled up potato bug when she was one. That was pretty cool. She was barely starting to talk when she
decided to chase the moon as she held out her arms and called it a “ball” She’s still never been much into dolls though
– especially dolls designed for display only.
How boring.
Kayla accepted the dolls and took them
out to her car. I don’t know if she will
put them on display or not. Unlike me,
she actually does have casing for them – but like me, she finds them
impractical. They are “fun” to look at –
but the novelty is short lived. They
become dust collectors for a lot longer than the “fun” lasts. And those two – though
the looks themselves really do resemble Kayla, Anna and Garrett – are
porcelain. If I’m to collect dolls, I
would rather they weren’t porcelain.
Bless Aunt Gertrude and Jenna for
their love and enthusiasm for treasures and for the desire they both have in
sharing their joy.
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