A Face Only a Mother Could Love!

This is truly a face only a mother could love! This is Paddy and he was my most loved companion from the age of one, although that’s not quite true, I think I threw him out of the pram and played with the box for a while. Not a promising start however we turned into a dream team, inseparable till I met my husband at the age of 20. 

My 58 the birthday last week kicked off a nostalgia trip and got me thinking about the toys I loved in childhood and this again kicked off a sketchbook page. Now you can see his sweet face and his loved to bits body. 

Paddy was believe it or not a panda, I never had a dummy as a child but I used to suckle on his fur (that’s why he's bald) and I refused to go anywhere without him. When I went to the doctor's he went too and got his jabs too, my mum kept trying to convince our family doctor that this dirty bear was bad for me, full of germs and insanitary but good old Dr Doyle was on my side and insisted the germs were all mine anyway. Mum tried all sorts of ruses, a quick cycle in the washing machine or one of her best tricks ''she would cover him anew'' (I wasn’t that gullible!), as she was a major fan of Domestos, I'm surprised he wasn’t steeped in that at one point. 

Paddy had a few adventures too, he got lost in the city centre of Edinburgh on a shopping trip. The disappearance was only discovered at bed time as I would only go to sleep with Paddy. My mum then had to call all of the shops we'd visited on our outing, asking if a dirty Panda bear had been found who fortunately was wearing red tartan pyjamas, this was his saving grace. The security man in Jenners in Edinburgh found him and he got to spend the evening in the luxury of Edinburgh's poshest department stores.

Aaaah, the secrets Paddy could tell, first crushes, first kisses, first love…… it’s all in there plus hundreds of tears from first break ups and other disappointments. Fortunately, Paddy keeps all of his secrets, after all that’s what best friends do. 

I took him on holiday with me to Majorca where I met my husband, every morning when the chambermaid made my bed she lovingly placed Paddy on the pillow, can you imagine her face when I walked into the room and she realised Paddy was mine :)!