Assignment #22 -- In 200 words write about your first toy

Her name was Fussbudget. She was made of washcloths and stuffed. I'm not sure what color she was when I got her, probably white, but I always remember her being dingy gray. There wasn't much to Fussbudget. She was a simple little doll, kind of like an gingerbread man made of cloth, but she went EVERYWHERE with me. She and Brownie Bear were my constant companions and woe to the world if one of them got lost.

Fussbudget slept with me. She kept the monsters away. She went with me to doctors appointments. It wasn't so scary if she was there too. Really GOOD doctors examined her first before even touching me. I cut my teeth chewing on her. She was an ever present part of my infancy and toddlerhood.

Fussbudget lives in the top drawer of my mothers dresser now. She is still a dingy gray. She and Brownie Bear survived as reminders of my baby days and my mother cherishes them. I look at her now and wonder how she managed to do so much, calm my fears, ease my pain, be my friend, when she was nothing more than a washcloth or two sewn together and stuffed. A little scrap of love, named Fussbudget.