Take It Down - March 2012
One of my strongest childhood memories involves losing my Raggedy Ann doll in Kmart when I was three or four. I distinctly remember sobbing because my little heart was broken. My mom and multiple helpful employees scoured the entire store. Sitting in the cart in customer service, my mom explained to me that they just couldn’t find her. I remember it was cold and smelled a little musty like all big box customer service departments seem to. She offered to get me another doll, but it wasn’t the same. She wouldn’t have been mine.
I have to admit when I started writing Take It Down that memory wasn’t exactly in the forefront of my mind. But at some point during that first draft the memory resurfaced, something I hadn’t thought about in a very long time. Why? Because Elle Monroe has lost something as well. Something that certainly has more value than my doll, but that’s not why she wants it back. For her, what’s lost is priceless, not because it can’t be replaced – although it can’t - but because it holds memories. Because it ties her to someone who was very important to her and is no longer with her. It’s the sentimental value that drives her to take some drastic steps to recover what was lost.
We never found Raggedy Ann and I never got another one. I replaced her with other stuffed animals instead. Looking back, I can definitely say that I tend to hold onto things longer than I probably should. Maybe that’s because I remember the sadness of letting her go and don’t want to experience it again. I still have a box of my old stuffed animals and I have to admit I’m kinda happy about that. My oldest daughter now sleeps with one of my old teddy bears. It’s a part of me she can hold onto at night – especially when I’m away. So maybe losing Raggedy Ann wasn’t so bad after all.
Have you ever lost something? Did you find it? Comment for a chance to win a copy of Take It Down – out now. Check back later in the week to see if you’ve won.
Kira
Entries (RSS)
I haven’t ‘lost’ anything tangible like that. I do tend to hold onto things longer than I should because I don’t want to lose anything. I already have a copy of your book
Yep, it’s that fear of losing something that I might need later that keeps me holding onto things.
I hope you enjoy it, Katie!
I still have my old dolls, too, I just couldn’t part with them, too many sweet memories.
Exactly, Summer! And I get to share those with my girls now.
I have lost a few things through the years, but the one thing that stood out the most was this baby my little pony I had gotten for a birthday… I hid it under my bed so my sister would not play with it… shortly after it went missing… my sister took it and left it at a neighbor’s house along with all my other ponies… I had to go over and get them back… all but the baby pony were there… the neighbor claimed she did not have… never got it back… it hurt, I loved that pony that I had received for my b-day… never to see it again!
I think it’s even harder when you lose something that’s tied to a special occasion. I wish I had a baby pony I could give you.
I lost an earring my grandma gave me for my 18th birthday. I never found it.
I’m so sorry you lost the earring! Have you thought about turning the one you have left into a ring or necklace?
I have a ring that my grandmother gave me for my 16th birthday. My grandfather had given it to her for one of their anniversaries so it has sentimental value especially because both of them are gone now. I’d be devestated if anything happened to it.
Yes, I’ve lost things. One tangible thing was a ring my grandfather had made me. I took it off to wash my hands, then accidentally flushed it down the toilet. My poor Dad was so good, he tried to see if it had got caught in the trap, but no luck. I’ve always missed that ring, it was a moss agate that had tiny flowers on each side of the stone, it was delicate & very pretty, precious because “Grandpa” had made it. Later in life he made me a coffee table with cut, polished rock slabs & lots of abalone shell, which I love. Yes, I hang on to way to many things which need to be weeded out because some of them are just not useful to me any more !!! I won’t go there.
I’m the same way, Donna. I’m so afraid to get rid of something because I just know a week later I’m going to need/want it for some reason.
I’m glad your grandfather was able to make something else for you. I know that table couldn’t replace the ring, but it’s something special that you can hold onto forever.
When we moved from New Jersey to Ohio when I was six, I had a stuffed lamb that look like a dog that I called “Wow Wow”. It got misplaced in the move. My mother could not find it. Two or three years later, my mother came accross it and asked me if remember who this was and I answered immediately “Wow Wow”.
I do tend to hang onto things longer than I should.
I would love to read your book.
I’m so glad your mom found Wow Wow! I bet that was an awesome day.
I moved 5 years on a row from 2nd to 6th grade. Several times across the country. To this day I’m surprised I didn’t lose anything. Of course the flipside to that is the garbage the movers packed. I suppose that’s one way to make sure nothing gets lost…
I didn’t have a lot of toys growing up, so no, I didn’t lose anything as a kid. However, I DO remember losing my high school ring shortly after moving out from my parents’ home. I still miss it and they don’t make them anymore. (My son lost his right after high school too. You’d think we were related or something….)
LOL Like mother like son, huh?
I’m sorry you lost the ring though. Maybe you could both buy new ones together – replacing the old memories but making new ones at the same time.
Probably the most major loss I remember as a child was coming home from school and finding out our dog Penny had to be PTS because of heartworm. When I left that morning, she had a vet appointment, but it never occured to me I wouldn’t see her again, or get to say goodbye. She was my best friend at that age. I was incosolable for quite awhile, and over 30 years later I still haven’t forgotten her.
~Tina
I would be inconsolable in that situation, too! There’s nothing worse than the unexpected loss of a loved one – including our pets.
When I was a kid I lost the book I ordered and to this day never got it. What it did taught me is to put my name on it
although I guess it also made me paranoid. I have no idea what else I might have a lost.
Losing a book is my worst nightmare! But somehow I always manage to do it no matter how hard I try not to.
Why is my comment awaiting moderation?
I’m not sure, Aurora, but I just approved it.
When I was a kid, I ordered a book based on Disney cartoon of Hunchback of Notre Dame. However, I left it on desk and never put my name on it. Sure enough, when I went to another class and then back to my own, the book was lost and to this day I never found it. What it did teach me is to put my name on the book.
I once lost a little stuffed animals that I brought with me to a sleepover at my cousin’s house. It was misplaced and I never found it and I still wonder if it’s still somewhere in my aunt’s house.
I do that, Jane! Maybe it’s just my overactive imagination, but whenever I lose something I have this picture in my head of a camera zooming in on the thing I’ve lost while in the background everyone watches me hunt for it. I just know someone’s enjoying my frustration.
Yes my blankiem booo lol, did not find it, but got ice cream later lol. Congrats on the books, great reviews
Thanks, Kim!
Ice cream is always good, but it can’t replace a blankie.
I remember having a fit when I was younger because my mom tore the silky stuff of the edge of my blankie. I was too young to appreciate that she did it because she walked in to check on me during my nap and it was wrapped around my neck and she thought I’d choked myself to death. I just knew that I wanted the silky stuff of my blankie so I could fall asleep!
Hi Kira! The only thing I can think I have ever lost and not found was a ring I got as a gift for my 15th birthday. It was shaped like a flower with a white stone in the center and red ones surrounding it. I lost it about a year after my birthday and never saw it again. I do however still have alot of my childhood stuff. My youngest slept with my childhood bear, Brownie Bear, for the first three years of his life. My husband lost his wedding ring right after we were married. Lucky for him he found it, but he was scared to death when he lost it. He was out in 29 Palms doing training, he was a Marine. Anyways he lost his ring and he and a few of his buddies torn their barracks apart looking for it. He found it in his sleeping bag, lol!
Can’t wait to read your book! Have a great night!
Alina, your husband has good friends if they helped him find his wedding ring!
I’m glad he found it.
Thanks! I hope you enjoy it.
Kira
Ack. It ate my post. I once lost a stuffed animal during a sleepover at my cousin’s house. I still wonder if it’s still in my aunt’s house waiting for me to find it.
Congratulations to Lori Y and Laney4! You guys are my winners this month. Please email me at kira @ kirasinclair dot com with your snail mail address and I’ll get the books out to you.
Thanks everyone for sharing what you lost with me!
Kira
Thanks Kira. I sent you my info. I look forward to reading your book.