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| Karin and her other best friend, Sandy |
At some points there may have been some implied criticism from our family about Beat Up Old's disheveled state, but you don't want to cause a child distress by disrespecting their best friend. The more adventures Beat Up Old had, the more she earned our respect. Her little cloth body had many scars, from countless emergency surgeries performed lovingly by our Mom, Janet. Like any Veteran, you respect the sacrifices that they have obviously made.
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| Beat Up Old was quite possibly a magical doll, since in spite of her constant presence in our lives, she does not appear in any photos. I did an exhaustive internet search and found a reasonable likeness, although this doll's hair is still too long and she is far too clean. |
Beat Up Old definitely did not have an easy life, but she was the sort who let it build character. She would not have traded sitting on a shelf in fine clothes with perfect hair for anything. What a boring life those other fancy dolls lived! They may have been invited to more tea parties to show off their refinement, but they never knew the exhilaration of launching off a little girl's lap at the very highest point of the swing, flying through the air with little arms and legs flapping wildly, and knowing that you personally had caused the squeals of delight from your best friend.
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| Karin spent hours on the swing with Beat Up Old |
It is a testament to her character, and to my sister Karin's as well, that they stuck together through thick and thin, never tiring of each other's company. When Karin grew up and was too old for dolls, Beat Up Old was still around. I think it's interesting that no one knows what happened to Beat Up Old. She never could have been donated to a thrift shop or sold in a yard sale, no outsider would have recognized her worth. None of us would have the heart to dispose of a Best Friend. I had chosen a private Viking funeral for my own Pooh Bear, who had suffered from "plush mange" at age 15 and lost all his fur. Somewhere I still have his jacket, not the cheap original felt one, but the red corduroy one that Mom sewed for him, and that she had embroidered "Pooh" on it.
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| Dad and Pooh Bear, Mom with Scotty Joe |
For Beat Up Old to have gone missing without a trace is remarkable. She was fearless, so I like to imagine her with some other little girl, perhaps in an impoverished country, not caring one bit about her disheveled appearance, and having more Amazing Adventures.
