Surgery Buddy
by Lauren
Most little girls get a doll at some point in their lifetime. Most normally have more than one. Clara has four at least that she carries around the house whenever she’s at grandma and granddad’s for a visit. When I was there recently for a visit when our air conditioner broke, she took one of my squares I had made for my friend’s blanket and used it as a blanket for her baby doll. She covered her up and carried her to the kitchen.
When I was a little girl, I was no exception to owning dolls. My sister and I had about fifty Barbie dolls between the two of us. But of all of my dolls, I had a really special one mom gave me when I was about a year old.
There was nothing particularly special about the doll other than the fact that my mom gave it to me. She has a cloth body and plastic arms, legs, and head. This doll is very special because she has been my surgery buddy.
She has been with me for almost all of my operations except for my hysterectomy and the only reason I didn’t bring her for that one was because I couldn’t find her at the time.
Not long after my cousin Jayme Osburn was born, I decided to name her Jaime after my new baby cousin. The doll was a baby, after all, and it made sense to me at the time to name her after the only baby I knew.
I don’t think she ever had a name before that. If she did, I certainly don’t remember it.
Back in 2007, I had a heart catheterization and I had Jaime with me like always. When I woke up from the operation, I found that someone had taken the time to dress the doll up for surgery.
She was truly my surgery buddy.
It was a very sweet, thoughtful gesture. I have no idea who was responsible for it, but it sure meant a lot to me. Sometimes small acts of kindness can mean a lot to those on the receiving end.
To this day, I’m thankful for that bright spot in an otherwise very bad weekend that I spent in the hospital. To this day, I still have my surgery buddy.
I have since had her restored as her cloth body was falling apart from the many years of use and I had a friend of mine, Laura Davies, who restored her made some beautiful clothes for her.
This is what Jaime looks like today:
Laura has a sewing blog which you can find here. 🙂