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Sunday, May 19, 2013

Finding Richard Paul

  
First posted 10/3/11
      

While cleaning out the garage yesterday, I discovered him in a box on a dusty shelf, his leg caught in our old George Foreman grill. His unblinking eyes fixed on me when I reached for him, as if to say, “Where’s everybody been?” 
      
Richard Paul, showing signs of the fierce love our son CJ lavished on him long ago, was once an integral member of our family. Richard Paul is a Cabbage Patch Doll.
     
I was thinking about him a few weeks back when a distant relative of his showed up on one of those pawn shop programs on TV. It turns out that Richard Paul is actually worth a few bucks. He’d be worth more if he still had his birth certificate and adoption papers, which I’m sorry to say he doesn’t. And I’m sure the signs of wear and tear on his face and body, indications of just how much our son adored him, would detract from his value. Not that it matters. In spite of what people pawn on TV programs, I couldn’t possibly sell a family member, even one with an eye peeling loose. And even if I could persuade myself to do so, even if I could locate his adoption papers, he rightfully belongs to CJ. Just ask Santa! 
    
Strange how Richard Paul's blue eyes bore into you. How do I explain that it isn’t the 80s anymore, or even the 90s. I'm sure Richard Paul recognizes me as he would Mrs. Chatterbox, although our hair is a bit grayer and I’m chubbier than before. Our dog Ginger, who used to carry him from room to room when CJ wasn’t looking, went to the Rainbow Bridge years ago, but it would be hardest to explain where CJ went. Our son was three when Richard Paul came to live with us the Christmas of ’83. CJ is now thirty-two years old.
     
As I brush dust off the tangled yarn hair, I remember Richard Paul sitting at our dining room table, smiling as our little boy tried to push food into his unmoving mouth. We once lugged Richard Paul to Hawaii because our son refused to be separated from him. But Richard Paul’s proudest moment came when he offered to spend the night in CJ’s closet. Our son was sure a boy-eating lion was waiting in there to gobble him up the moment we turned off the light and closed the door. I confess that I was the one who volunteered Richard Paul for this assignment, but in the morning when CJ flung open his closet door and saw his unblinking adopted brother sitting there, uneaten and not mauled, it was Richard Paul who got the credit.
     
I gently returned him to his box, careful to keep his legs away from the jaws of the George Foreman grill. I replaced the box on the shelf. The pang of sadness I felt was lessened by the gladness of knowing Richard Paul was no longer lost.
     
Just waiting….

Did you ever lose someone special? I still mourn the loss of my Woody Woodpecker doll.


Note: Be sure to enjoy all of my new posts here at chubbychatterbox.com. 

11 comments:

  1. I once had a little stuffed dog, "Blackie". Over time he shed all his limbs and spilled his guts. I don't remember if we had a ceremony to mark his passing or not. :(

    S

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  2. Thank God for Richard Paul. I lost many special items when my mom went through a garage sale phase.

    Love,
    Janie

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  3. Richard Paul is full of such rich memories, which is precisely why it is so hard to get rid of family members like him. I still mourn the loss of my first Barbie, which somehow ended up in the reckless hands of one of my sisters.

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  4. I miss several dolls and Mitzi. Mitzi was a stuffed, blue and white striped dachshund.

    Thanks for your support, Stephen. I really appreciate it.

    xoRobyn

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  5. My daughter Paige lost one of her cherished Webkinz (this generation's fad), a mouse named "Cheesy". It doesn't matter that we have about 4,732 other stuffed animals in this house, that one just can't be replaced. And it literally can't. Webkinz retired it and it's very hard to find. What has made this a huge problem for me is that for the past couple of years Santa Claus, The Easter Bunny, and The Tooth Fairy have all received multiple letters from Paige asking for them to please find Cheesy for her! What pressure!!

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  6. Great story. I wish I would have tried this with my son who woke up many nights crying, "He's over there!" Many children experience the same thing. Does your son want Richard Paul?

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  7. My son, Robbie, whose 30th birthday is in fact today, had a favourite 'Snoopy' which he inadvertently left aboard the ferry on our way to France. We realized it when we were still aboard and about to drive off and instead of leaving with the crowd left the car and rushed back to the deck. But dear old Snoopy was no where to be found. I eventually found an identical one for Robbie, but it wasn't the same for him. Somehow all Snoopys are not the same and I've always felt somehow we'd failed them both...

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  8. Heh heh. As I scrolled down I saw the top of the Woody Woodpecker doll hair and first I thought it was a troll doll!

    heh heh

    Sweet story. :)

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  9. That really was a sweet story.
    So you have it in you after all...huh?

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