Welcome back to Finish the Sentence Friday! I am so delighted to report that I will now be regularly co-hosting this fantastic link-up, along with these awesome ladies:
Janine from Janine’s Confessions of a Mommyaholic
Kate from Can I Get Another Bottle of Whine?
Dawn from Dawn’s Disaster
Each week we will provide you with a sentence to finish; bloggers, link up below this post, and non-bloggers, feel free to join the fun in the comment section by leaving your finished sentence.
Now for Some Rules:
- Please Make Sure to Follow Your Hosts, If You Haven’t Already.
- Make Sure to Read and Comment on the Three Posts That Come Before Yours.
- Share Your Favorites on Facebook and/or Twitter Using the Hashtag #FTSF.
- Now Make Sure to Link Up Your Posts with This Week’s Prompt Below.
- Enjoy and Have Fun!!
Today’s prompt was: When I was younger, I tried…
When I was younger, I tried be be the mom of the year to my six Cabbage Patch Kids. That’s right, six. And, today, at age 34, I still remember every single one of their first and middle names. I know you are dying to know, right? Bear in mind that some of their names I kept from their “original birth certificates” and some of them I changed because they weren’t cool enough. See if you can guess which names I kept. In order of acquisition, I mean, adoption:
- Diana Alina
- Elsie Karna
- Abigail Violet
- Julie Elizabeth
- Amy Brittany
- Natalie Noelle
No, I wasn’t a spoiled brat with a monstrous toy collection that resulted from a Veruca Salt-ish mentality; I genuinely loved these dolls. They were my babies. I was an unusually nurturing little girl, and I never neglected my Cabbage Patch Kids. They went with me everywhere. In fact, my best friend Anne and I had the same number of CPK dolls, and each one of ours had a match with the other’s. I am afraid I am not awesome enough to remember Anne’s dolls names, except for Dustin Livingston, whom I believe was paired off with Elsie Karna. Not only that, but Anne and I had insane stuffed animal collections, and we paired up every last one of our animals, too!
Anne and I became friends because our moms were friends. When my family moved to Sioux City Iowa, where Anne and her family lived, our moms brought their two first grade daughters together and essentially informed us that we were going to be friends. And so we were. Every Tuesday we had playdates with one another.
Anne with two of her “kids”. Check out all the animals on the bed- yikes!
When we were in second or third grade, Anne moved away, and for years we would visit each other at least annually. Our dutiful fathers would transfer at least a half dozen paper bags full of CPK dolls and stuffed animals from trunk to trunk, as whichever of us was traveling would insist on bringing them along for a heartfelt reunion. I tried hard to make sure none of them ever felt left out or inferior. This strange habit of anthropomorphizing continued into my early teen years, when I always felt bad that only one of my special bears slept with me and traveled with me. The idea that the other bears in my collection would have hurt feelings plagued me. It’s no wonder I ended up in therapy eventually.
Here we are- children of the 80s. Check out our collection!
Our matched set of Cabbage Patch Kids and stuffed animals was the glue that bound our childhood friendship together, and as years passed and our collections were relegated to basement toyboxes and out-of-reach shelves, we found other common ground. Anne and I, though we haven’t lived in the same city for over 25 years, have maintained our friendship- the longest one I have ever had. As we grew from teens to college students to young adults, our relationship evolved, though our life paths did not always converge. No matter what, we always loved each other with fierce loyalty and protectiveness, and perhaps our shared history and memories were enough to ensure our continued closeness. As adulthood has set in, and jobs, moves, and children have interfered with our ability to communicate regularly, I still feel undeniably bonded to Anne.
The two of us at my wedding in Mexico
Whenever I think back on our years of being Cabbage Patch mothers, I smile, and remember that I truly belonged with someone. A friend who loved me and understood me like no other friend could.
Next week’s sentence: “When it comes to reality TV shows, I…”
You totally just brought back a ton of memories for me, because I too had a collection of Cabbage Patch Kid Dolls that were all my babies, too. They were a lot easier than the real deal though, lol!! Great post and seriously could totally relate 🙂
Boy, that is the truth…
What a beautiful post about a childhood friendship that has endured…so sweet and to think it all started with Cabbage Patch dolls. Great post for the link-up!
Thanks Emily- can’t wait to read yours!
I just realized you’re the same age as my youngest daughter. God, do I really feel old now!!! lol Mine were cabbage patch crazy, too! Oh well, if your parents were like my wife and I, the price of the dolls more than paid for the peace and quiet they brought to us “old folks!” : ) Great post!
That is funny, Rich! Perhaps you remember how hard it was to find one of those dolls in 1984…
That was sooooo sweet. I wanted to zoom in on the second picture because I had quite a collection of friends on my bed too. I was able to spot Raggedy Ann and Andy. Usually its the other way away these days, you child has a friend, and you TRY to like the parent. It doesn’t always work out that way though. I love it that you have maintained your friendship. I have friends from middle school (five of us) that hung together still keep it touch. That makes out friendship THIRTY two years old. WOW! Visiting from FTSF
Those kinds of friendships feel like both a gift and an accomplishment to be proud of! Thanks for linking up today! Yes, I have fond memories of Raggedy Ann and Andy- ours are generations old now!
While I had a CPK, one with a tooth no less, and visited the Cabbage Patch Hospital in Atlanta, I never took care of it. I don’t think I actually played with it one time. My stepmom was into CPK and bought one for me out of guilt or something, seeing as her daughters had tons of them.
What a great story of friendship you told today. Those long-time friends are so special. Thanks for hosting the link-up!
I don’t think I had one with a tooth! Yes, I definitely cherish my friendship!
I did not expect to tear up from a Cabbage Patch post, but your tribute to your friendship with Annie did it. There is nothing like someone who has known you and loved you from the time you were little. *sniff* I just love tales of true friendship! 🙂
Aw, thanks! I felt a little teary writing it, too!
Ok, you’re making me cry. This is so sweet! I love it! It’s amazing that you have had a friend for that long. That is so beautiful. I had a friend from birth up through my mid-20s b/c our moms were and still are friends, but we lost touch. I actually still see her mom every other year or so.
Did you have twin CPK dolls? I see two with red hair. My CPK doll was Corey Emmy and my sister had Clifton Bud. But I think she had another one too that was a girl, but I can’t remember the name.
And I love your 80s fashions sitting in the chair with cats. Totally awesome!
No, one was mine and the other was Anne’s… 🙂 Clifton Bud??? Are you kidding me? That is frickin’ awesome. Yeah, we were pretty cool with our 80s clothes… I am still no fashionista.
I’m going to have to join you guys in this theme. Hopefully I can get something together by next Friday. Here’s my contribution as a comment:
When I was younger I tried to sew a skirt from my moms leftover fabric, using a sewing machine. It was so tight around my calves I had to walk like a penguin to make it to the bus. A teacher ran up to me asking if I needed help and I said “No, I’m fine I can make it.” Looking back on this, I feel so embarrassed. lol
Oh, that makes me feel all nervous and red-faced just reading it! You poor sweet thing! And you should definitely join us next time! 😀
I LOVE IT! I never had dolls, because I never liked them. I was plenty content “parenting” my stuffed animals. I was about as compassionate with them as I was the Beanie Babies now…as in, not at all. I’m trying, but it just doesn’t come natural to me.
It doesn’t always come naturally does it? Thanks for stopping by, co-host! 🙂
Those are the best friendships – the ones where you can go years without seeing/speaking to one another, but when you get together again, it’s like there was no time lost. You pick up right where you left off. I’ve got a few of those and consider myself exceptionally lucky for it! 🙂
[Stopping in for the first time via the #FTSF]
So glad you joined us! Just read your post and loved it! Come back again next week if you like! 🙂
My sister had that bald doll too; hers was Bernard Osgood, and his sister was Avis Henrietta. She insisted on keeping their original names. Love your 80s memories and that you are still so close with Anne. Thanks for hosting FTSF!
I love that I am not the only one who can remember those names! Thanks for linking up today!
Wow, I was never allowed a Cabbage Patch Doll, but boy did Every. Other. Toy have it’s own personality. I loved my toys and rotated them so that they all got to have a turn at sleeping in the bed with me. I’m ashamed to say I did have some favourites though.
I am so relieved to find out I am not alone in my strange tendency to apply personalities to all my toys! Thanks for linking up!
I was too old for the CPK craze when they came out. But my mom bought them anyway. When she got older she developed quiet a collection from yard sales and such that I have kept since she passed. These were her babies when I her baby grew up and had a family of my own.
Stephanie! I, too, worried whether my other “babies” would get their feelings hurt when I only slept with one animal at night. And DUDE, one MORE thing we have in common: I got married in Mexico, too (the first time). Crazy parallel lives. 🙂
I LOVE all the things we have in common! 😀 And I’m so sorry your parents didn’t love you enough… 🙁
PS I never had a single Cabbage Patch Kid. My parents told me they were too expensive. It’s obvious now that they just didn’t love me much.
I used to squash every cuddly toy in bed with me, and I’m talking like a hundred. They used to surround me and protect me from monsters. When I was a teenager my Mum used to sneakily give my soft toys away each week to our haurdresser’s kids. I was gutted when I found her out one week! That was lovely to read about your childhood friendship. I had one but we lost touch:(
Yes! I was the same way! I slept with a ridiculous amount of stuffed animals at night! My mom has kept a bunch of mine, and finally convinced us to unload some of them into our own basement! They need to be washed, vacuumed, or both.
I really enjoyed reading this post! I had a ferocious love for my dolls and stuffed animals too!
Friends like that are so hard to find. I’m glad you were able to find that with Anne. 🙂 You brought back so many memories talking about the names to your cabbage patch dolls! When my brother and I were much younger, we’d sit all our teddies in rows…they all had names too, of course. Carebears Bedtime Bear and Grumpy Bear were always in the front. They each got a book to read and we graded them on their reading. LOL! It was fun. I haven’t thought about that in years. :))
YES! The Carebears! My brother and I used to be obsessed with the Carebears movie…we bought it for my oldest and it is TERRIBLE! Good memories, though…
Aw, what a sweet way to finish the sentence! Great work! I have a couple of friends like that but didn’t earn them until I was in high school and later. Enjoyed this. 🙂