Remember this video of Gracie and her purple sock monkey? It was truly {love at first sight}. In fact, we named him Chuckles because every time she sees him, she chuckles. We often hear her in her crib, chuckling and talking with him. She likes to hold him tight and when she's busy playing, she makes sure to check in on him and give him a big hug and a kiss. (You think I'm kidding but I'm not.)
Well, today (6-22-2011), we lost Chuckles.
I handed him to her in her carseat and then closed the car door. We drove home and, as I was getting her out of the car, I realized Chuckles was nowhere to be seen. NO. Where.
My heart dropped.
[She must've thrown him out of the car as the door was closing.]
I hopped in the car and drove the ten minutes back to the parking lot we had just pulled out of to see if he was still laying (helpless) on the road.
He wasn't.
I called the store to see if he had been turned in.
He hadn't.
I was surprised that my heart broke a little as I realized he was gone.
It broke even more when I told Sam and he dissolved into a sobbing mess. He spent the rest of the day depressed, fighting back tears.
It broke even more when Sarah cried herself to sleep, after 1 1/2 hours of mourning his loss.
(Dave may or may not have expressed attachment to the monkey.)
After searching the internet to no avail, I hopped in the car at 10pm tonight to go find another Chuckles. Target did not let me down. Choirs of angels sang (in my head) when I spotted a purple sock monkey across the crowded store. He's not the original Chuckles. (He's too clean and in tact to be the original.) But Gracie will never know the difference. And I feel like our family is complete again.
I just wish I could see the look on Sam's face when he sees Chuckles sitting on the couch in the morning. (But I won't because he gets up too early for my blood.)
6 comments:
best story ever, i'm all chocked up!
What a terrific story (good writer). I would love to see them all in the morning, it will be like Christmas!! Thanks for sharing this.
JoAnna! That was so well-written and fun (and even suspenseful) to read. What an excellent post! Oh man I think I would have gone and woken up Sarah and Sam right then!! My heart hurt for them. I'm SO glad you found a new one - maybe you should get another back-up Chuckles sometime! I can totally picture you in Target when you saw it across the store. It kind of reminds me of when we saw Arby's in Twin Falls, Idaho!!!
Oh my gosh, that is so sad!! And I'm SO happy to could find another one. I know exactly how you feel. Really. When Connor was a baby, he lost his favorite "Lambie". I thought I left it in a store shopping cart, so I went driving around, several different times looking in the parking lot, asking the store if they found it, etc. I remember how sad Steve and I were. My parents too. They knew how much he loved that musical stuffed lamb. So I bought another one (thankfully I found one online because the original was a gift), but it wasn't quite the same, but good enough. Then what do you know? About a month later, I found the original buried in his clothes drawer! Then wouldn't you know, Connor liked BOTH of them. Haha. I think I finally tossed the old one just barely, as we moved. But he still has the second one to this day!
I am crying.
I love that your blog moves me in many ways!
Truly!
How is it that you are such a great friend to me and we live hundreds and thousands of miles apart?
You my darling, are one of a kind!
NO WAY! I am so glad there is a happy ending to this :)
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