You know how we all have those little things from our childhood that we don't want to ever get away from us, but sometimes they do?
My mom had a doll she named Sally, who she used to take everywhere. Sally was a baby doll, and my mother just adored playing with her. My grandmother put Sally away when my mother hit the teen years, and when my mom moved out, she asked for her. My grandmother told her that Sally had decayed and was so forgone that she had to throw her out. My mother was completely heartbroken.
I've had a lot of time on my hands. My mother and Rolf are at the hospital with my sister, and my father and I don't talk to each other very much, so I've just been watching cartoons from my childhood on YouTube. I decided I was going to watch Rainbow Brite and the Star Stealer and a bunch of other Rainbow Brite cartoons.
I loved Rainbow Brite when I was little. I had a big Rainbow Brite doll that I used to take with me everywhere, a little one, her horse Starlite, and a little Shy Violet doll that was missing her dress. I think my friend Amanda gave it to me. I also had Rainbow Brite colourforms and I had the movie taped illegally off of the TV.
My family used to go to picnics out in Tobyhanna, Pennsylvania every Fourth of July, Memorial Day, and Labor Day when I was young. I usually stayed in the car because I was desperately afraid of my mother's elderly uncle. But one Fourth of July, and I remember it like it was yesterday, one of my mother's cousins that I didn't really know so well offered to take me for a walk. I took Rainbow Brite along and I accidentally left her at the beach.
Oh, when I realised she wasn't in the car on the way home, I sobbed the entire way home and couldn't get to sleep. My mom tried to get my to calm down by telling me that Rainbow Brite was going to make some other girl happy now, but that pissed me off even more: she was my Rainbow Brite, how dare some other little girl pick her up and play with her?
A few months later, one of my random babysitters named Jamie came over with her backpack looking extra puffy, like something was forced inside it that didn't fit. I was curious about it, but didn't ask about it. Jamie told my father what was in the bag though, and he seemed glad about it.
A little later, she called me over to where her backpack was, on the chair in the living room, and opened it up to reveal her old Rainbow Brite doll. I was overjoyed. Yes, she was missing her dress, but it was still Rainbow Brite. Of course, at the time I didn't know it was her old Rainbow Brite doll and I actually thought that Jamie had found my Rainbow Brite for me.
Rainbow Brite was one of the things that exemplified my childhood, I think it's safe to say. I loved her more than any of my other friends did, and all my friends liked her.
I decided today that I was going to go look for her in the closet with all the old dolls and stuffed animals, but I discovered that my mom threw her out. I called her up to ask and she said "Yeah, I think I did throw her out. I'm sorry, we had to clean out Carianne's closet".
I know I shouldn't be, as I'm an adult, but I'm completely heartbroken, and I think I have to get a new one....
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cartay25
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Jan 24 @ 1:05PM
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I don't blame you. I think we all have something from childhood whether it's an object or memory that totally sums up who we were and to some degree still are as a person. I have so much stuff that my son calls me a pack rat but I still won't give them up.
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redtigr
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Jan 24 @ 1:10PM
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What a sweet and poignant story.
Symbols of childhood; friends made of cloth or bisque, or even plastic - these bring back all the good times and knowing they exist - that they "wait" for us somehow - gives us a warm, secure feeling.
Just like your memoir...
~*~
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PullMyFinger
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Jan 24 @ 1:27PM
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We may be alone in this....but does anyone else want to kidnap this extremely intelligent young woman and send her to a major university where she'll fit in with others who share her beliefs and core values....Berkeley for instance (my mothers alma mater), where she'll major in journalism and wow the world beyond MD in a few years....
Yes? No?.....ehhh....well we do.
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iam7545
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Jan 24 @ 1:47PM
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lovely! 
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enigmasrook
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Jan 24 @ 1:50PM
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 awwwww......loved Rainbow Brite. I was a Strawberry Shortcake girl, but she was so cute too. Great blog, LGQ. 
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kattsmeow
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Jan 24 @ 1:57PM
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PMF. I have asked her to move out here with us. Berkley was at that time only 20minutes from us. I am sure I can find one in the area we live in now though.
She would have been perfect there!!!
LGQ, I will always wonder where my Chatty Cathy went. Oh she looked very ragged the last I can remember her.
She was the only doll I ever wanted or played with.
Those were the wonder years, the years of no responsibility, to dream while looking at the clouds.
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EternalFlame
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Jan 24 @ 3:12PM
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Oh, LGQ! I know your pain...
I still miss my Baby Chrissy doll! Damn my stepmother for throwing her out!
Thank heavens tho, that she did not get her hands on my Heather! Heather holds a spot of honour on a shelf in my living room.
Thanks for the memories, LGQ
~*~
And thank you, PMF, for pointing this blog out!
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misschoos
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Jan 24 @ 3:22PM
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Aww that was sweet. 
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oceanlover734
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Jan 24 @ 4:10PM
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Very sweet blog. Memories I have of a doll I had from birth and I loved her. I think they call her a bride doll or close lol. She was very big and came with a fancy blue and a fancy pink dress. I do have pictures still. Anyways when I was 15 I gave her to young girl that was mentally handicapped because she loved her so much. I have no regrets in it but I use to look for one like her. Think I'll go online and look again since you brought back this memory. Thanks for reminding me why I won't get rid of my grandchilds favorite doll ever. ~*~
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luvmycats
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Jan 24 @ 4:29PM
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I think I have to get a new one.... You go right ahead and get one!
When I was 7 years old, our house burned to the ground. My dad and brother were home when it caught on fire, and were able to get a few things out. For years, I was mad at my brother because he didn't get my BLANKEY! It was pink and had gray kitties all over it.
(he got some of my sisters stuff out) 
ANYWAY, a few years ago, I spotted one just like it at a yard sale... YEP its MINE now! 
Thanks PMF for posting this in the blog thread!
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