James

[susandennis]

Earlier this week osodecanela posted about the tie dye onesies he makes for the babies he delivers. And how he got the idea from an LJ friend talking about birth mementos.

And talk like that always brings me to reconsider the wonder of James.

My parents lived in Brooklyn when I was born 63 years ago. Daddy was a salesman for Hanes Knitware and Mom was a bookkeeper for a small outfit run by a man who was from India and who felt his multisyllabic name was too difficult for Americans so told everyone to call him James.

Mom quit work when I was born and James presented her with a large teddy bear for the new baby... me! Size was a major consideration because their apartment was teeny tiny and now had my parents, me and my grandmother who had flown in from Oklahoma to help. Mother told me more than once she came close to tossing James out to the first kid that passed by on the sidewalk.

But, she didn't. And James has been with me ever since. My dog, Max, chewed off his nose once and I had to do a little cosmetic rhinoplasty. And he lost both eyes over the years but he never lost his spirit.

He sits in my front room against decorator pillows and makes me smile every time I see him. My Mom never worked again. Well, not true, when she was 80, she was an extra in a movie and got paid something like $150 and waved her W-2 form around like she was The Captain of Industry. But growing up, I did not see her go to a job. But, when I looked at James, I knew she did and I could too when I got big.

My parents and grandparents are now all gone so James is the only one left who knew me when I was a baby. He says I was adorable.

Comments

[galebird.livejournal.com]

he just looks so perfectly loveable. what a lovely memento and story

[osodecanela.livejournal.com]

This makes me smile. How important to have this link to the past.

[catmomma.livejournal.com]

I have my George bear with a similar story.

[johncomic.livejournal.com]

<3

[earthmother45.livejournal.com]

This is one of the best, best memory stories of a childhood (and continuing into adult life) I have ever read! Yes, you could never throw James away! I just love to hear about things like this!

[howeird]

He says I was adorable.
I'm sure you were. :-)

[rsc.livejournal.com]

That's really sweet. And it adds a little bit of -- something -- to the bear-knitting.

[susandennis]

You know, as weird as it sounds, I never connected my knitted bears to James until I was writing this out this morning. Now I can't figure out how I didn't see it before!

[thnidu.livejournal.com]

Awww, yeah. Like my Winnie-the-Pooh. -- Hey, we're the same age!

(But it took me a minute to figure out the missing sentence: "And she/we/I named the bear James, after the man." That was sometime after reading "Mother told me more than once she came close to tossing James out to the first kid that passed by on the sidewalk.")

[machupicchu.livejournal.com]

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The oldest thing I own is a copy of the New Testament I was given when I was 2. Rampant plot inconsistencies, no story arc coherence, terrible ending. :(
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