The Love of 20 Years

There are few material possessions in life that I really treasure.  For the most part, most of the "things" that I have can be replaced and I don't much care if something happens to them.  I am FAR more worried about my family and the things that cannot be replaced.  At this point in my life, I can think of about 4 or 5 things that I would be absolutely devastated if something happened to them.  Let me tell you a story:

Once upon a time there was a little girl, we'll call her Melissa, she lived in Glendale, AZ.  She was convinced that her life was perfect.  She had a couple of best friends and she couldn't have been happier.  One of her friends, we'll call her Sarah, would often invite Melissa over to play and hang out.  Melissa loved going over to Sarah's house.  She loved Sarah's parents, Kim and Dan, and always felt like they were another family to her.  Then one day, Melissa's real parents told her that they had to move away.  Melissa was sad.  Kim made Melissa a little stuffed bunny to take with her to the "new" place.  Melissa loved that bunny, and named her Jenny.  Melissa slept with Jenny for a long time.  Jenny would find her way to any of the places that Melissa spent any significant amount of time.  When Melissa got older, Jenny would sleep on the headboard of the bed that Melissa slept on.  For close to 14 years Jenny was never far from where Melissa was.  Then one day Melissa's new boyfriend, we'll call him Brandon, lost his best friend to a very tragic car accident.  Melissa didn't know what to do.  She decided that Brandon needed a friend to help him through the last 30 days of his deployment.  As much as Melissa loved Jenny, she gave her to Brandon for comfort while he was underway.  That was the first time that Jenny ever left Melissa.  Jenny stayed with Brandon until he married Melissa, and then she found her coveted place on their dresser.  She has been there ever since.

Jenny.... she is VERY special to me.  She is currently 20 years old, give or take a couple of months.  She has a purple dress that has a lace apron.  She is beautiful.  She is yellowing, but she is beautiful.

The other day Jared saw Jenny and pounced on her.  He has never noticed her before, or has at the very least has chosen to ignore her.  This night, he didn't want to let her go.  I love Jared, but I don't yet trust him with Jenny.  She is just a little to precious to me.  He asked for her, but for now, he may hold her gently, but he may not sleep with her.  Call me a mean Mom, I'm okay with that.