Nicole and Raggy

Nicole took Raggy everywhere.

To bed when she was one (and trying really hard to wake up from a lazy Sunday afternoon nap) ...
To the portrait studio when she was two ...
On family vacations to Arches National Park when she was nearly three ...

Raggy was Nicole's security and trigger to suck her thumb. Whenever Nicole was sad, bored, nervous and even happy, Raggy was always there for her. One day, in an attempt to get Nicole to quit sucking her thumb, Raggy magically disappeared. And Nicole pretty much quit sucking her thumb -- for a while. Nicole missed Raggy terribly and searched the house for at least three weeks. Not a day went by that Nicole didn't ask where Raggy was.

When Grant was born, Raggy came back and I worried that Nicole would try to hoard them. I was surprised when she didn't want anything to do with Raggy at all. I even handed her one of them once and said, "Look, Nicole, it's Raggy!" I thought she would be so happy, but instead, she threw it back at me and said, "That's Grant's!"

That was the end of Raggy.