Memories Passed Down

This week we’re talking about old toys that we still have. When I was growing up I used take stuffed animals with me everywhere. I had a floor to ceiling book case filled with stuffed animals. When I was in the fourth or fifth grade my dad was in the hospital. My youngest brother and I went to stay with our grandparents on the farm. Grandma picked me up from school that day (it was toward the end of the school year so my brother and I simply ended the  year two weeks early that way my grandparents didn’t have to drive us back to town every day). When we got out to the farm I was so upset because I didn’t have my favorite teddy bear. My grandma brought down an old brown bear that had been loved for many years. He was no longer fluffy but his fur had been worn almost completely away. She said it had been her bear when she was a little girl. I got to sleep with that bear while we stayed there until my parents returned home. Grandma allowed me to name the bear so he became June Rose (looking back its an odd name for a bear that I always referred to as a boy but I wanted to name it after my grandma). I was the only grandkid who ever got to sleep with this bear or hold it. When my grandma passed away the bear became mine. It stayed on my bed until I reached the age of 22. Then after my divorce it came back out at the time I had a basement bedroom at my sister’s house while I tried to get back on my feet. During a large summer storm the sump pump went out. It took several days to get the basement dried out. Much to my dismay I found June Rose on the floor soaked through. All of the stuffing had to be removed. He is still at my sister’s house, she keeps saying that she will fix him for me. I think it is time that I find a person who can fix old toys. That was the best bear in the world and I would love to be able to give him to a grandchild of my own someday (or maybe even to my youngest who still sleeps with a stuffed animal).

 

Then there is one toy that has been used by every kid in my family. My parents got it when my older sister was little. All of their kids used it. We all said it was ours. It was a little blue Ford tractor. I loved pedaling that thing up and down the sidewalk. It was better than a bike! Everyone wanted to drive a tractor like Grandpa and Dad so we all wanted that one. When we had kids all of our kids have ridden on it. The pure joy that each of the kids have had as they got to ride on it. Now it is sitting in the garage waiting for the next generation to enjoy it.

Here’s a picture of Quinlan riding the tractor when he was just itty bitty.

I love telling my kids the stories that go along with items that have been passed down through the years and they love hearing them.  Do you have any toys from your childhood?