Throwback Thursday.

Self-disclosure warning! I recently shared someone else’s post consisting of an excerpt from “The Velveteen Rabbit,” a wonderful child’s tale. I enjoyed it–and here comes the self-disclosure–because Eeyore lived with me back in what we used to call, you know, small kid time.

Eeyore, of course, was a character in the Winnie-the-Pooh books. My Eeyore was pretty much as called for, a small, gray, carefully stuffed donkey made of some soft fabric. I can vaguely remember that Eeyore was a constant companion for what seemed like a very long time, although when your lifespan to date was only a few years, even a few months could seem like a very long time, I suppose.

Anyway, I do recall that at some point I aged out of the Eeyore era, and that little stuffed animal, now well worn and much loved, was relegated to a spot in a closet with other worn toys. And then more time passed and, at some unknown point, Eeyore disappeared. I hadn’t thought about that in a long time, until reading that little passage from Velveteen Rabbit.

I honestly didn’t recall seeing any trace of Eeyore anywhere in all the photos and papers that are stuck away in boxes or albums. Then, by coincidence, I opened an album and there was an unexpected treat–a picture of me with Eeyore.

So here we are in 1953. I was closing in on my 6th birthday. I’m not sure where the photo was taken, although we should be able to figure it out from the mountains in the background.