A text message came in from Pengy earlier in the week asking if I knew where Terwilliger was. I would’ve been totally bewildered by *who* the heck Terwilliger was except that she had helpfully sent an identifying emoji 🐢

Oh yes, it was one of Grandroobly’s stuffed aminals. He had a few in his later years including Terwilliger. I didn’t remember that the turtle or any of Grandroobly’s aminals had names!

My dad had occasional moments of confusion in the last couple years of his life but it was never full-blown dementia so that’s not why he received stuffed aminals as gifts. I can’t exactly explain why those seemed to be appropriate gifts. It just somehow fit the moomincabin/family culture.

I have first-hand experience witnessing people who *are* in serious stages of dementia with their loveys. When The Comm was in a rehab facility a while back (2011), I spent a lot of time there telecommuting (or trying to). She had roommates in various states of mental capacity from feisty, sharp-as-a-tack Mona to Mumma with her baby doll. One afternoon I was telecommuting down in the solarium with The Comm in tow. The Comm went off to dinner and as I was finishing up my work, Mumma wandered through the solarium with her baby, gave the baby a “bath” in a wastebasket, and wandered off without the baby and one of her tennis shoes. I picked up the shoe, pulled the baby out of the wastebasket, and deposited both on Mumma’s bed before decamping to my luxury camping site up on the escarpment (aka my mom’s house).

My dad was never anywhere near Mumma’s state but he did acquire a few stuffties and I have saved them. Back in June, we dumped out a bunch of stuffed aminals on the back room floor to try to sort some out for the GG to take to our great-nieces in Colorado. They don’t need any more *stuff* than any of the rest of us but their moom GRACIOUSLY accepted some new “pets”. At that time, I believe I sorted Grandroobly’s aminals out and schlepped them up to the moomincabin. My thought was that if any of his grandchildren wanted any of his aminals, the cabin would be the best place for them to collect them. But maybe it would be better if I kept them here for the winter and schlepped them up for the summer.

Whatever I decide, it was a reminder about how hard it is to get rid of stuffed aminals and I am so glad I didn’t donate Terwilliger.

P.S. I *could* telecommute back in 2011 and it worked most of the time but I cannot tell you how much EASIER it is now!

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