Yesterday, Jonny said “goodbye”…
Yesterday, Jonny said “goodbye”…
Yesterday, Jonny said “goodbye” to 2 garbage bags full of “Stuffies.”
The other day, Jonny asked me what toys we were going to give away for Christmas. He suggested we donate to “Toys for Tots.”
Not to be outdone, I countered with, “What about some of those “Stuffies,” bud?
The kid has so many stuffed animals, he couldn’t sleep on his bed.
But he knows each one by name and can tell you how and when he got them. To put it lightly, “They are precious to him.”
“NO! NO! NO! NOT MY STUFFIES!!”
I told him, “It’s easy to give when the gift doesn’t mean anything to you. It’s harder to give when the gift means a lot to you. But it makes the gift ‘valuable.’ ”
Jonny thought it over for about a minute…
“Okay. I’ll go find some ‘Stuffies.’ ”
He packed 25 or 30 Stuffies that don’t get a lot of play anymore, some who have been with him since he was an infant.
He wanted to take them to “Toys 4 Tots,” but they only accept ‘new’ toys.
So we found a local Salvation Army drop off to leave the stuffed animals.
He asked me if he could say goodbye to them. I told him to take all the time he needed.
When he was done, I picked up the bags and started carrying them to the drop-off.
He grabbed them out of my hands and carried them himself, though he could barely lift them all.
“They are my Stuffies. It’s my responsibility.”
We put them in the bin together.
“Bye-bye, stuffies. Thank you for being good friends.”
On the way home, I could hear him sniffling in the back seat. “Daddy, I want them to have good owners. How do I know if they will be taken care of?”
“Well, we won’t ever really know buddy, but you can pray for them.”
“Okay.”
And last night we did. So good luck Fozzie Bear. Good luck Superman and Batman. Good Luck Froggy. Good luck to you all.
Thank you for bringing joy into my son’s life.
