One thing I really enjoyed while writing the "Lily" books was how I was able to go down memory lane and write about my childhood. I missed writing about a lot of things here on my blog and I was able to write about them now without jumping out of the chronological order I had tried to maintain here.
Since book two,
A New Home for Lily, has released I have talked to a lot of people and received emails from others how one chapter especially touched them where I had written about getting a real doll. (And yes, it really happened the way I wrote it.)
I always loved my rag doll, Sally and the little satchel Grandma Mast had made for her, but to me nothing was quite as special as a real store bought doll with real hands, feet, and best of all a real face. My friends all had real dolls and it was always fun playing with them when we visited at their house.
The little girl in me never really got over that desire for a real doll even though I grew out of dolls. I was reminded of that this morning when I saw Sunbeam's bed and her collection of dolls. I think all this time when I bought new dolls for the girl's birthdays and Christmas I was unconsciously going back to my own childhood desires.
I have always loved dolls. When my girls were young...I think I enjoyed their dolls as much as they did :) Now,that I am a grandmother...I have my own dolls...those with faces and without...I love them all :) Sunbeam's dolls are all very sweet. Thanks for sharing your story....I still haven't read your books,but I will soon. Blessings friend.
ReplyDeleteYes, the doll chapter was rather sad. But, I guess not so surprising since most Amish have only faceless dolls. Love your little girl's doll collection!
ReplyDeleteMary Ann, if anything this post is even more touching that the book's chapter. Being a 'transplant' I do not know of the reasoning behind the faceless dolls, so would you explain it?
ReplyDeleteA V2 landed on a phone booth located 50 metres away from Mum's childhood home, the blast destroying most of the interior including her collection of dolls...At age 85 she still treasures the ones we purchased for her to replace all 52 of them!
Dolls are part of every little girl's childhood, right?
God bless,
Noelle, Originally it was because of one of the ten commandments where it tells us not to make any graven images or any likeness of any living thing. Leaving the doll faceless allowed little girls to have a doll with out it looking too real. With time fewer and fewer Amish seem concerned about that. Neither set of my grandparents approved of real dolls and my paternal grandparents even took it a step further and didn't allow rag dolls. We had to play with empty soap bottles wrapped in blankets when we visited their house. And instead of toy animals they only provided empty spools and wooden blocks. A healthy imagination still provided hours of fun.
ReplyDeleteI loved the Victorian dolls, somehow much prettier than the modern Barbie type dolls. My daughter was never a very dolly girl!
ReplyDeleteI think a lot of parents do the same thing....
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