What is Real?

One of my favorite children's books is The Velveteen Rabbit, and my favorite part is the following passage:

The Skin Horse had lived longer in the nursery than any of the others. He was so old that his brown coat was bald in patches and showed the seams underneath, and most of the hairs in his tail had been pulled out to string bead necklaces. He was wise, for he had seen a long succession of mechanical toys arrive to boast and swagger, and by-and-by break their mainsprings and pass away, and he knew that they were only toys, and would never turn into anything else. For nursery magic is very strange and wonderful, and only those playthings that are old and wise and experienced like the Skin Horse understand all about it.

"What is REAL?" asked the Rabbit one day, when they were lying side by side near the nursery fender, before Nana came to tidy the room. "Does it mean having things that buzz inside you and a stick-out handle?"

"Real isn't how you are made," said the Skin Horse. "It's a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real."

"Does it hurt?" asked the Rabbit.

"Sometimes," said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. "When you are Real you don't mind being hurt."

"Does it happen all at once, like being wound up," he asked, "or bit by bit?"

"It doesn't happen all at once," said the Skin Horse. "You become. It takes a long time. That's why it doesn't happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don't matter at all, because once you are Real you can't be ugly, except to people who don't understand."

"I suppose you are real?" said the Rabbit. And then he wished he had not said it, for he thought the Skin Horse might be sensitive.

But the Skin Horse only smiled.

Layla and Ally Gator

This is Layla and Ally Gator ... Ally Gator has permanent dirt spots on her that no combination of Spray & Wash and Tide can get rid of ... one of her nostrils is missing (having been pulled off by Layla, or possibly Augie), and one of her eyes is deformed (from all of the love given by Layla, and probably Augie too), and there are worn spots all over her body.  Layla loves her.  Whenever I let Layla in from outside, the first place she runs is to get Ally Gator and bring her to me to show me.  She is so excited about it, her whole body is wagging, not just her tail, and you can almost hear her saying, "See it!  See it!  Isn't it great!"  On a practical note, I highly recommend the line of toys that Ally Gator comes from:  they are made with some sort of special skin (underneath the plush fur part) that is, apparently, indestructible.  I wouldn't have thought that a stuffed toy that couldn't be destroyed by labradors existed, but:  there you go.  Ally Gator has survived, and is beloved.

Augie and Layla and Philip the Pheasant

 This is Augie and Layla and Philip the Pheasant (which could be known as the Skin Pheasant, since he has no stuffing whatsoever, having lost it a long time ago to both Augie and Layla).  Augie has always been more partial to the "bird" toys (we also have a goose, a duck, and a quail:  a matched set), but he does love this stinky skin pheasant with the big rip down the middle.  The highest compliment Augie will give you is bestowing the pheasant upon you.  He'll come right up beside you (or sit right beside you ... neither dog has any respect for the concept of "people only furniture" and they treat the couch as if it belongs to them) and gently place the pheasant in your lap, then look at you like, "See, see how much I love you?  Look at what I gave you ... something I love!"


Clyde and fur mouse

This is Clyde and the fur mouse (Clyde was being a ham during all of this picture taking, if you can't tell).  This mouse is ... well, it's definitely seen better days ... lots of missing fur, missing eye ball, it is constantly being batted around and carried around in Clyde's mouth, and kicked and chewed and just generally taking a beating.  But it, too, is loved.  Clyde never loses track of it.


Shaggy Dog

This is Shaggy Dog, and he belongs to me.  So the story goes, Shaggy Dog has been around since I was born.  He used to be soft and silky, and I think that is the third pair of eyes that Shaggy Dog has had in his 29 years of my ownership.  He's still soft, but in a more worn way, and his limbs are barely attached to his body (and, in fact, he has had multiple surgeries through the years to keep those limbs attached).  Shaggy has always gone everywhere with me, even if he is not always out on display:  he went to college with me, to every house/apartment/dwelling that I had in law school, and he lives on a special shelf in the closet right now (he is, honestly, much too delicate to be left out on the bed or in plain view of the spoiled labradors).  Shaggy Dog is, most definitely, real.  My mother also had a stuffed dog named Sleepy, and Sleepy is still in existence, although she too is worn and fragile (she is in storage up at my grandparents).  I plan on getting Baby Ward a stuffed dog when he or she is born, so that tradition can be continued. 

Eeyore

 This is Eeyore, and he belongs to Alan.  Truthfully, I don't know much about Alan and Eeyore's history, only that Eeyore has been his for a long time, and is special enough that he too has made the journey to college and the numerous moves after college, and now resides in the closet with Shaggy, on the special shelf.

All of these things are REAL.