Pinky!

Ode to Pinky

I think that I shall never see

A bunny lovely as Pinky

Yep, pure and complete corn! But, what do you expect when you’re talking about a bunny that’s at least as old, if not older, than me?  HA!  That’s right.  My little Pinky.  We have a history together, Pinky and me, yes we do.  Why, I bet that bunny came into my life when I was about three months old.  Do I dare say that I’m just weeks away from turning 65?  Okay, I won’t say it.  We’ve been through a lot together, Pinky and me.  You can think all you want that I’m nuts but I’ve kept this little bunny with me my whole life.  In my youngest years, Pinky was my “security blanket”.  Unlike Linus, I found that it was much easier and more convenient to carry around Pinky rather than dragging some old blanket all over the place.

I couldn’t go to sleep at night until I had Pinky safely tucked in, far away from any edges of the bed. Oh, my, we certainly wouldn’t want any part of him to extend over the edge of the bed and then suddenly be taken by those monster things that always lurked just out of sight under the bed.  Why I’d sooner have hanged my own foot over the edge than any part of Pinky.

Are you wondering what he looks like? Well, here’s a picture of him now.  Turns out I don’t seem to have any pictures of him when we were young.  I will say that we both definitely looked a lot better back then!  He measures 9 1/2 inches from the top of his ear to the tip of his leg.  So, you see, he would have been much more manageable than some old blanket.

Ah, it brings to mind the words of that immortal poem by who knows who that goes, “Fuzzy Wuzzy was a bear (insert bunny even though it won’t rhyme!), Fuzzy Wuzzy had no hair, Fuzzy Wuzzy wasn’t very fuzzy, was he?”  Hoo boy, we really did say those things!  Yep, when Pinky was younger, he was covered in a soft blue-grey fuzz.  His ears, and the ends of his arms and legs were covered in a soft pink fabric.  At one time he had two eyes! And, yes, the eyes were made of a hard plastic or glass, I can’t tell.  And I didn’t swallow it!  Now the fuzz is practically all gone.  The funny thing is that it’s like it has disintegrated on its own because I don’t remember him being that bare when I put him away.

I remember the first time I “lost” him.  Or should I say, I remember the first time I remember I lost him.  I was probably about three or four years old.  One day he just seemed to vanish from the house.  It didn’t make any sense to me.  I cried for what seemed like at least three days.  My parents turned the house upside down looking for him if for no other reason than to just shut me up!  I knew I wouldn’t have lost him.  Suddenly one day he just showed up.  Truth?  I think my older brother had hidden him from me.  It’s one of those things you’ll never know.

Anyone remember traveling before we had Interstates?  Now, I’m really showing my age.  Anyway, we used to travel between our little town in northwestern Ohio to visit my Mom’s family in Lexington, Kentucky.  Two lane roads all the way.  And my Dad was the type that (1) he always traveled at night because of less traffic and (2) he loved to stop at little diners at almost every little town to sit at the counter, have a cup of coffee and talk to the people.  Well, on one of those trips, being a very sleepy child, I left Pinky at some diner.  I have no idea how many miles we had driven before I started crying for my long lost friend.  And wouldn’t you know, my Dad actually turned the car around and went back and retrieved my Pinky for me.  I know that what he really wanted to do was to keep going on the road but he did that for me.

I remember a time, oh, I was probably about eight years old.  I decided on my own that Pinky needed a bath.  I doubt he’s what you would term washable but I did it anyway.  It probably would have worked out just fine but, kid that I was, I put him in a plastic bag with wooden colored pick-up sticks.  My goodness, for a long time that bunny had so many different colors on him.  But time has a way of taking care of just about everything!

Well, enough reminiscences.  These things only came to my mind because I was going through some things and “found” Pinky again.  It’s funny the things we attach ourselves to.  Anyway, I hope I haven’t completely bored you!