Book Entry 111: 1973 Baby Joyce

           Living far out in the country we were pretty isolated.  We didn’t get together with friends very often other than at church or chance meetings while we were shopping.  The exception to that was a couple we knew who lived in Delhi.  It was Larry and Joyce Harry.  

          When Heidi was about three she was fascinated by names.  It must have seemed to her that her friends all had different names, her Sunday School teacher was called “Teacher,” and all other adults were Joyce’s and Larry’s.

          Heidi kept using “daddy” for Larry but began to call me Joyce!  It was funny and cute and a little weird to have my three year old call me by my name.  We tried explaining to her several times she just could not call me Joyce.  

Finally we bought a doll for Heidi and named it “Baby Joyce.”  We told her she was to call me mommy but she could call her doll Baby Joyce.  I’m not sure why it worked but it did.  Once we put that doll in her arms I don’t think she ever called me Joyce again.  You can see by the picture above it became her most prized possession for several years.

Any good mommy loves her baby unconditionally.  Heidi loved that doll.  It went everywhere with her.  She never said a word about the missing toes when Romeo chewed them off, she never complained about how stained the cloth body became, and she never seemed to notice how her hair changed from a soft curl to sticking straight up.  Yep…she loved that baby like a real mom!