“When God wants a great work done in the world or a great wrong righted, he goes about it in a very unusual way. He doesn’t stir up his earthquakes or send forth his thunderbolts. Instead, he has a helpless baby born, perhaps in a simple home and of some obscure mother. And then God puts the idea into the mother’s heart, and she puts it into the baby’s mind. And then God waits. The greatest forces in the world are not the earthquakes and the thunderbolts. The greatest forces in the world are babies.” ~ET Sullivan

Monday, November 26, 2007

Farewell, Dear Friend

We've kept track of her and her precious Joey for almost a year. She's traveled with us to Illinois, Washington, Texas, and all places in between. She's gone through the washing machine many a-time, she has been retreived from multiple lost-and-founds, and she has absorbed pancake syrup, vomit, spaghetti sauce, orange juice, tears, and countless other substances, may they remain unknown to us. She was greatly loved, her fabric becoming threadbare and her stuffing lumpy. Leah has enjoyed parenting her favorite kangaroo, diapering her, feeding her, giving her a bath, brushing her teeth. Oh, how we will miss our dear Ophie. May the finder at that gas station in Wyoming enjoy her soft lumpiness for years to come.


I think I was perhaps more attached to Ophie than anyone else, for I actually shed tears at the realization that we left her behind, and Leah has yet to ask for Ophie (but I am also 7 months pregnant...), and I continue to mourn. Ikea unfortunately no longer sells the Klappar stuffed animal series, and the only one on ebay is somewhat overpriced...should that matter? We are prepared to present a stuffed Nemo to Leah on her birthday...but can that really take the place? Here is our family picture from our vacation, the last picture of our whole family, before Ophie was lost. May she rest in peace. *sniffle*

2 comments:

Anonymous said...

How very sad! Now I wish I hadn't fond Ophie under our couch on Thursday, because then we could have found her later and mailed her to you. It is funny how objects themselves really aren't all that important, and yet when they represent a lot of love and history and memories, they become significant symbols that do have importance.

Jenny said...

----THIS JUST IN----

Ophie may be found! In a desperate attempt, I called the Conoco in Laramie Wyoming where Ophie was suspected to have been last seen, and the attendant (unforgettable with a nose-ring, 1cm diameter earrings, and a tongue-ring) remembered us and kept Ophie safely under the counter should we return! He is going to mail her to us! Hooray! Tears of joy!