Estelle

Caroline loves her blanket/bear named Estelle.  However, Caroline loses Estelle frequently.  And by frequently I mean daily.  Searching for Estelle is part of our bedtime routine.  One night about a month ago we routinely searched for her before tucking Caroline into bed.  Only, unlike other nights, we didn't find her.  We searched the house for days and didn't ever find her.  Caroline did okay without her, but would occasionally say how much she missed her.  It broke my heart.  Being that I had my own security blanket until the ripe ol' age of 26, I could understand that feeling she was having.  There was a time when I was around 8 years old that my security blanket, aka "blankie" got left at a friend's house after a sleep over.  It took a couple weeks to get it back.  I was so overjoyed to finally get blankie back.  And I was 8 - probably too old to be that excited about the return of a blanket.  Nevertheless, I was very happy at her return.

We hadn't given up on ever finding Estelle, but we weren't searching as fervently anymore.  One morning early this week Caroline was playing by the mirror that leans against the wall in my bedroom.  I reminded her to be careful because it wasn't attached to the wall.  I left her there and walked into my bathroom to begin applying my makeup when I heard her exclaim, "Estelle!!".  I turned to see her coming toward me with a smile that lit up the room and holding...ESTELLE.  After I told her the mirror wasn't attached to the wall, she looked back behind it to see for herself and found Estelle waiting there.

I admit I teared up at her excitement.  She was so happy to be reunited with her beloved Estelle.

With the return of this little, blue bear/blanket named Estelle, all is right with the world again.