Ever Loyal Elizabeth

I was thinking today that all of my recent posts have been very normal, or as close to normal as I get. They have been very straight forward descriptions of wedding events. I hope all of my readers (I'm talking about you, Mom) will appreciate a return to oddity.

This is Elizabeth. She was my first doll. I really don't remember when I got her, but we have fuzzy VHS evidence of me toting her to preschool as a 3 year old. At that time I referred to her as Wizbef, as I really had trouble pronouncing her name, thus my own name as well. Fortunately I didn't go by my real name, so this wasn't a problem. I didn't name her either. As you can see by her pinafore, she came to me with that identity. I would venture to say that my parents purchased her for me for that very reason. Or maybe they had that name embroidered on her dress. I never thought of that until just now! Fascinating.

Elizabeth preceded the Cabbage Patch doll craze, so she came with a very standard name, rather than ridiculous names like Regina Faye or Constance Angelica. Again, not really worried about offending anyone here, since my reader's name is Jane.

Elizabeth has been a steady friend to me over the years. She came back to live with me in my home after years and years of storage in my childhood closet. I imagine that she enjoys her new freedom. She lays on the bed in the guest room. The other inanimate object that lays on the guest bed is Kashmir. This brings me to my point. Elizabeth has a new, doting friend. Kashmir loves her!

(Now I totally admit that this photo was staged. I just flung Elizabeth on top of Kashmir, but you get the point.)

Kashmir sleeps on top of my rag doll all day, every day. She is covered in cat hair from lots of love. Today their relationship survived a pivotal test. Kashmir vomited all over her BFF. This is a bit gross, but it is a side effect of feline ownership. Trinity and I were hanging out in the living room when I heard the all too familiar hacking.

T: "your cat is throwing up again, and she's in the guest room."

I resume solo custody during unsavory events according to him. I ran in the room to discover a small puddle on the hardwood floor. No big deal. Then I approached Special K as she looked down at Elizabeth with sad, forlorn eyes. She looked up at me with eyes of sorrow, ones that said, "I just threw up all over my friend, and I don't know what to do now."

I had no advice for her. This has never happened to me. I have never thrown up on one of my friends. I imagine that all of my friends would be pretty upset about that, except maybe Courtney. She's unbelievably forgiving and accepting, plus she spent about 1/2 of her life with personal hygiene skills that were seriously lacking.

I threw Elizabeth in the washer and my mind started to wander.

I was a child who imagined that my dolls came to life when I left the room. I remember thinking if I opened my bedroom door fast enough I would catch them in action. Trinity and I saw Toy Story 3, and I still like the idea of toys talking. If Miss Elizabeth could talk, what would she say? I think she would sound like Tina Fey and say something like, "I lived out my younger years with a slack jawed mouth breather, and now I have to retire as a hair ball receptacle for an inbred cat. What a life."