Meeting My Best Friend

Meeting my Best Friend
As a young child, I was always soft spoken and could barely look anyone in the eyes.
As the only girl out of three large boys, I felt out of place most of my childhood.
A scrawny girl dressed in her brother’s baggy clothes could be found playing barbies all alone.
One day my larger than life father came home from work with that rare smile of his.
He told his only little girl that he had a surprise for her.
From out behind his back, he pulled a pink stuffed animal.
He had a white tummy with a rainbow on it, and his pink heart nose made my childhood heart leap with joy.
My stubby small hands reached out and grabbed him.
Adults saw a stuffed animal but I saw a best friend.
He was always dangling from my side, his small pink paw wrapped in my hand.
At any social event, family would look over to see me now playing barbies with my carebear.
He became a security blanket to me.
When my house started to feel nothing like a home, The stuffed animal was always there with a hug.
He helped me become less scared of the world around me, because I knew he was always there.
This pink fluffy stuffed animal helped a shy little girl realize that she could make friends even if she struggled to use her tongue.