I had quite a few - upwards of 40 different Steiff Animals when I was little.
They all had names and they all had to have a bow, because they were citizens of "Schleiflerland" (Bow Country) and were presided over by a mighty Queen:
Hupferlesia Egspoon, A Rabbit, who's story I will tell.
Sadly I lost almost all my Animal confidants and friends, when I was taken away from my Father, who refused to have me christianized. I was 9 years old.
I ended up n that horrrrrible orphanage where I had no personal belongings and my name was changed; but anyway, we children were never called by our names, just by a number.
I have at other threads posted about the horror and abuse there, so I will not go into too much of that here now.
After several of my infected welts (from the beatings) ended up giving me a severe bout of endocarditis I was released out of the hospital back to my mother.
She still had my Rabbit and there were 4 others, but Petzy and all my other Bears were not there any more
Well, by that time I was 13 and I had other things in mind.....
But I kept having dreams.
Dreams of finding them all again! And then, loosing them all over.
I sometimes woke up with tears in my eyes.
The years went by. I found a few Steiff Animals in the garbage on garbage day and I cleaned them up and kept them.
Then, at 26, I bought myself a small Steiff Monkey at the Flea Market as the last item of my outfit for my VW Camper and, shipping that, my home on wheels to Wilmington, USA, I left Europe for good......
That Monkey became the mascot for our archaeological excavation at the Maya ruins of Kabah in Yukatan, Mexico, where I worked as a nurse and field health care officer.
Forward 10 years and a few VW busses and Peter and me settled in Canada.........
But still, occasionally I had "the dream"
So, when we had our brand spanking new, crooked but self- build log home, I decided to put the dream to rest by starting to collect Steiff Animals again.
Peter's mom was an enthusiastic assistant in that endeavor and for Solstices and anniversaries there always was a little treasure rescued from a charity sale or Flea market for me, nicely wrapped up with a sticker stating:"is freshly washed"
Now they all reside in 3 glass fronted cupboards and somehow there are others that always escape from there and sit on the table or in the flower pot or at my desk......
Since I was older when I got him, he escaped the worst ravages of childhood love, but he was definitely loved, carried around, and slept with for many years. He's the one animal from my childhood that regularly appears in my dreams.
