Comfort

Comfort is this month's theme for BlogHer's NaBloPoMo.  Oh comfort.  Everybody talks about getting OUT of the comfort zone, and pushing yourself to get away from the comforts.  But there's something to be said for being comfortable.  Sure it's good to push yourself and to take risks, but it's also good to know that there are things that are perfect comforts. One of those things is stuffed animals, every kid's perfect comfort. When I was little, I didn't have a ton of stuffed animals, because I shared a room with my little sister, and she has crazy asthma.  But I did have a couple of very special animals who were so comforting to me.  One was a tiny little tiger named Rusty who I got when I had my appendix out when I was six.  He was small, but such a great comfort to me in a time of crisis!  Then I got a huge teddy bear for Christmas one year.  I must have been eleven or twelve, right at the age when I didn't really NEED a stuffed animal, but I wanted one.  And I named him Nicholas Gene Carter Mouton, because I was madly in love with Nick Carter from the Backstreet Boys.  I kept Nicky for quite some time, until my goddaughter was born.  Then I passed him down to her.  When I was fifteen, my family and I went to New York City, and each of us kids got a little stuffed animal from FAO Schwartz, and I got a tiger fondly named Brooklyn.  Since I've had him, he has been my constant companion in slumber.  He's gotten a little matted, a little mangled, and he's missing an eye, but he is a fantastic comfort who comes with me everywhere, a little piece of home wherever I go!