Day 11: Want a plane that loops the loop, Me, I want a hula hoop

Over the years we have given and received numerous gifts. Shirts, ties, coats, shoes, skates, perfume, and toys galore, but of all the gifts there are just a few that are truly memorable and stick with you through the years. For some it may be their Red Rider beebee gun with a compass in the stock, for me it was my blue dollhouse. I know there are better pictures out there but I searched and searched and this was the only one I could find. This blue dollhouse was a complete surprise for me. I don't remember asking for a dollhouse, but there it was Christmas morning; a true labor of love. My dad built this dollhouse with his own two hands. The story goes that over the weeks leading up to Christmas, my dad and a neighbor got together and built dollhouses for their daughters. After work they would meet in a cold garage, and over dinner of pizza and soda, the sawed, sanded, glued, and painted two blue dollhouses. I loved this dollhouse and over the years my mom and I decorated it. We used little spare pieces of linoleum for the kitchen, scrap carpet for the family room, and one day there were plans for wallpaper.

After I grew to old to play with Barbies, I continued to hold on to the dollhouse with the idea that one day my daughter would enjoy playing with it. It moved to different spots in my parents' house and eventually got stored in the garage where, sadly, one day it went missing. We're not really sure when or how, but one day I asked about it and we couldn't find it anywhere. The theory goes that one day while the garage was open some one came by and took it. My heart broke to hear that it was gone, and I think my dad felt the same. Perhaps one day I could convince him to build a new one for his future granddaughter, should we be so lucky.