Zoie

This is Zoie.

We met last summer at a neighborhood garage sale. Actually, I saw her first, as she lay sprawled unlady-like in a cardboard box, amid Power Rangers, View Masters, Sponge Bobs and Happy Meal figures, 25 cents each, but don't tell Zo; her memory isn't all that reliable, and she thinks we're BFFs from childhood. For me, it was love at first sight, though I don't usually buy dolls; there was just something about her that struck a cord in my heart. I picked her up and couldn't put her back down into that hodge podge of unwanted toys. Maybe she's my alter ego, my familiar, or possibly a kindred spirit. She's about 22" high, made of cloth, a rag doll, if you will. I've never had hair that's red and wild and free like hers, but I've wished for it, always. And though she still had a Delton collectible tag on her hand (we like being collected), she has a missing shoe button, one of her fluffy wristlets has been de-fluffed, and her wings are a bit curly and rumpled. Time has a way of rumpling and defluffing the best of us. I'm pretty sure the starry, sparkly blue halo isn't original, but she wanted to keep it. You know how we girls like our sparklies.

I couldn't find her online, but one of her sister ballerinas is on Ebay right now for $22.49 + $4.90 postage, and I thought about buying her, but once you've bought that second doll, I mean seriously, is there really any stopping place? I can see me in 10 years, as that eccentric old lady with a houseful of creepy, dusty dolls, still frantically grabbing them off Ebay and QVC in the wee hours of the morning and then waiting with breathless anticipation for the UPS guy to stop in front of my house.

Zo is a sweet, undemanding companion who agrees with absolutely everything I say, LOVES my art, and doesn't mind when Jim's gone and we spend the evening watching old movies and eating bowls of fresh pineapple with Cool Whip and sunflower seeds instead of cooking a meal. She travels well, after we got over the first hurdle of her not wanting to wear her seatbelt, but when you only weigh 6 ounces and have long, dangly limbs, a trip across town can be a harrowing ride if you're not fastened down! I've already promised her that she can go with us to Florida in August, and I'll share pics of her there, or just any time she wants to let you see what she's been up to. We're both sort of hams in that way.