DOLLY. A girls best friend

A toy cannot possibly become real, for it’s just a toy.

Just one simple doll. That’s all it took. A doll who cared for me and loved me. She wasn’t real, but to me, she was. Love had made her real, but not just any love. My love for my doll.

It all started on a Saturday, July 5, 2008 at 5:34 am PST I was born. My mother had to have a C-section because I was four or five weeks early. My mother and I were stuck in the hospital for several days due to a heart murmur. A simple little baby all alone, just me and my mom there. I was lonely. But I didn’t know what loneliness was yet. I needed her then, but I didn’t know it yet.

 My whole family was there, even people I don’t know now or can even remember. My dad and grandma on their way, The same gifts being given books, bath toys, blankets and clothes. The next gift, a doll that soon would change my life.

She was a doll with yellow golden knitted hair, bright pigtails tied off with little green bows made from ribbon, Draped above her forehead lay five yellow bangs curled at the end. She wore a baby pink dress with the words “my first doll” with a daisy sewed right on. One could tell it was hand sewed.  The ruffled fabric at the bottom had green stitch marks across the ends. Her feet and hands were a nice cream color with pink stitch marks to represent her toes and fingers. Her mitten-like hand shapes were covered by pink dress sleeves. She had four fingers plus a thumb, just like a regular girl. Her face had oval bright baby blue eyes, her whole face and details were hand sewn including a little parenthesis under the eyes to represent the nose and mouth. It was a simple baby pink, darker than the dress but not by much.

She wasn’t real, well not yet at least. She was soon in every picture. On the day of my birth, her sister was gifted as well incase I ever lost dolly and needed a backup. I never lost dolly and when I did, it was miserable for me and other around.

In the words of my mom, “Her first real friend.”

 “ Dolly made her debut at the hospital after your birth. A gift from your Aunt Mimi. No one knew how special she would be, but to you, she was everything. She was apart of the family. She went with us everywhere. She traveled overseas to Italy, Thailand, and Hong Kong. She also made several countless trips to Kentucky and back to California. She went to, preschool, and special events. You could conquer any fear and emotion with her. No matter where you went, dolly would follow. She was a friend along with someone who could brighten any mood of yours. The dedication you had when it came to your birthday, you made us get a mini cake because it wasn’t just your birthday, but it was hers as well.” My mom could tell me every detail about Dolly.

Fourteen years later and many sewing jobs after, the doll now lives in a clear box on my shelf. Every time she had been sewn; my mother had done it carefully. The material we took was cut from my favorite t-shirt, a Taylor Swift t-shirt from my first concert. Dolly’s face had been rearranged but in my heart nothing had changed. The pigtails are ripped and missing one bow, her dress now is a brown and her skin beige and white. Her dress still had the words intact, but the flower nearly gone. The rough dress that had once been as soft as fleece is covered in several stains. Dolly had been worn down and to some, she seems like a damaged toy, but to me she is my everything. She has been worn down with love and has been made real whether others see it or not. She is real.