LJ Idol - Boys' Best Friends (Season 10, Week 2)
Yeah it's silly, don't believe it
But I promise you it's true
Lots of people really love you
But your pillow loves you too*
Before Teddy was born, my step-mom took me shopping for fabric. She wanted to make some blankets and pillows for him, cute things to brighten up his crib. Along with the Loony Toons Babies and the cute bears that had been chosen, I found the softest blue fabric, dotted through with white clouds and bright yellow stars and crescent moons. The others would be nice for cute bedding, but this would be perfect for warmth. I added it to the pile. And it wasn't long before both my son and his new bedding - a blanket, a baby pillow and a small body pillow - arrived in the world. The blanket was one of the first that he was wrapped in, keeping him warm as he grew. And as he got older, switching from a crib to a toddler bed, he kept the body pillow with him. We didn't know just how important it became until one night he lay in bed, crying for "Bodie". We looked where he pointed and there lay the body pillow. As soon as we gave it to him, the tears stopped and a smile lit his face.
For years, Bodie was Teddy's constant companion. To story time, to the grocery store, to Parents' Day Out, Bodie came along. We made a mistake one time of forgetting him on a trip and not, 30 minutes into our 10 hour drive, deciding to go back to get him. Teddy got no sleep that trip. Neither did I. After that, Bodie was the first thing we made sure to have packed whenever we went anywhere.
As he got older, Bodie started to show more and more wear. Knowing that there would be a day that the patches she'd sewn into him would no longer hold up, my step-mom took the blanket and turned it into two larger pillows. (She'd wanted to turn it into another body pillow, but there just wasn't enough fabric.) As far as Teddy was concerned, though, those pillows could never be a replacement for Bodie. But that was ok, because the pillows found their own home before too long.
When Teddy was 2 1/2, his baby brother, Peter, came into the world. My step-mom never had the chance to make him his own bedding set - she'd had a double amputation thanks to diabetes, and passed away from a heart attack four months after Pete was born. But that didn't stop Peter from finding a friend filled with fluff. He soon latched on to the pillows Mom had made as replacements for Bodie, and they became his best friends.
Like Bodie and Teddy, Pete and his Plos went everywhere and did everything together. In the grocery store, one of his Plos would become a sled for him to slide on down the aisles. When we would wait for Teddy to get out of school, Plo would be his sidekick to help him fight "Invisible Man", the sometimes-villain, sometimes-hero that Pete spent his imagination time with. And when things wouldn't go the way that he wanted and he'd end up in tears, Plo would be the only thing that could help calm him to a point where we could talk. Over the years, one of the Plos has disappeared, but as long as Pete still has a Plo to keep him calm, all is right with the world.
For Teddy and Bodie, a few things have changed as the years have gone by. Once he started school, he stopped bringing Bodie everywhere. But he was still his bedtime companion, still one that he'd play with at home. He even gave Bodie a face, drawn on with red Sharpie. There is a permanent fold in Bodie's middle where Teddy will sling him over his shoulder or the crook of his arm. His stuffing is matted and his color has faded a lot. But that doesn't make him any less loved.
As for Peter and Plo, Plo still goes everywhere that Pete can take him. During the day, he waits in the car while Pete is in school, because Pete knows that a second grade classroom isn't a safe place for a Plo. But he wants to make sure that his best friend is waiting for him as soon as he walks out the door, and I make sure it happens. Like Bodie, Plo has lost a lot of his color, and his stuffing isn't as spry as it used to be. But also like Bodie, that doesn't make him any less loved.
I'm a firm believer that everyone should have that one friend that they know will keep any secret, that they have no doubts will love them no matter what. I think everyone should have a friend that they know will be with them through thick and thin, who will be there to comfort them when they are sad and share quiet joy when they are happy. I'm lucky that, in Bodie and in Plo, both my boys have this kind of friend. And that even, in the unlikely event that my boys set these friends aside as they grown into men, neither they nor I will ever forget the special bond they once shared.
One day you'll be all grown up,
I'll be nothing, skin and bones
But I helped you to get bigger
Don't forget me when you're grown*
Pete holding Plo, and Teddy holding Bodie on our recent trip to Philadelphia's Franklin Institute
*These lyrics are from Bill Harley's "I'm Your Pillow". It's from his albumTown Around the Bend and from the first time I heard the song, I knew that it was perfect for my boys and their best friends.