cloudgazing

Tamara Paetkau

Photo & Writing © Tamara Paetkau

For the Utata weekend project, Toy.
Frog has been with me a long time. My Oma crocheted him for me long ago, along with a pillow with a lilypad pocket for him to rest in. He used to have eyeballs, but they have fallen off. My Oma wanted to put them back on years ago, but I wouldn't let her. I said if my eyeballs fell out, I couldn't just stick them back in, so neither could he. He used to have a smile, but now his tongue is permanently sticking out. Frog has also been re-stuffed a couple of times in his lifetime.
When I was 13 and not quite ready to be a 'teenager', I brought Frog (and Cat, which my Grandma knit for me) along on a family roadtrip to Banff. I accidentally left them in a hide-a-bed in a hotel we stayed at along the way. When we got to Banff and they weren't in my baggage, I was beside myself. Sick to my stomach. We couldn't call the hotel until the next morning, and I was inconsolable. Eventually we got ahold of the hotel, and they found both Cat and Frog. We were able to pick them up on the drive back to Winnipeg. Imagine the surprise on the 20-something desk clerk's face when he handed Frog and Cat back, not to a 5-year old, but to a self-conscious 13-year old. I was the definition of relief.
Frog, you are loved.