Ricky

This week on Twitter there was a picture of a cuddly rabbit and a plea to find it, as it had been left on the tube in London. Lots of parents shared stories of their own children losing beloved cuddly toys and the efforts that had been made to find them or to try to replace them without the change being noticed.

It made me think of Ricky; my longest-owned thing. Would I be sad if Ricky was lost?

When I was ten my Dad went away for ‘work’. Dad made a career out of being unemployed and was often on courses and training programmes which I think he was encouraged/forced to go on by the DSS. None of them turned him into a long-term worker; he just wasn’t one.

So at 10, my Dad was going to live in Blackburn during the week and would come home at weekends. Before it was the time for him to go away he took me into the nearest town to Woolworths and said that I could choose a cuddly toy which would remind me of him and that I could cuddle while he was away. I chose a pretty traditional teddy bear and called him Ricky (my Dad’s name was Richard).

I’ve always loved Ricky and he’s taken on more significance with age. He’s 28 years old and has outlived my Dad. I don’t cuddle him every day or anything (he lives on Oscar’s bed) but I would be really sad if I didn’t have him anymore. This is why I don’t take him on the tube.