Sock Monkey

24

I promised I’d be kind to myself because I knew there would be days that I would be tired and have zero inspiration for a photo a day. Like today. Where I got home and picked up the camera and just stared around myself, at a loss. And so i walked into the office and stared around some more. And then I saw him, high up on the bookshelf, between two books to keep him upright and watching down on anyone who walks into the room.

Do you have some old item from your childhood that you just can’t get rid of?

Meet the sock monkey.

My Mom made this sometime in the 1960’s. I’m guessing that she probably made it for my brother, but it became my toy at some point.

As I got older it disappeared into the toy trunk and, when I left home, I took the trunk but mostly emptied the contents.

Except for the sock monkey.

He came to Vancouver with me and has graced my bookshelf for years.

I do look at him now and think of all the toys that I played with that were not purchased at extravagant cost. That weren’t mass manufactured. That weren’t some odd toy that made the world go crazy trying to get one for their kid for Christmas.

Just a sock monkey, floppy, made with love, and missing a pom pom at some point in history.

I don’t know why, but he just makes me smile, and remember Mom.

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