Raggedy Ann & Andy, a tribute

I think it was the funeral visit, when we were staying at Gramma Baby's house in Pacoima, CA (the home of Ritchie Valens), when I spotted a Raggedy Ann & Andy garbage can. It was an old-fashioned vintage can, heavy & metal, probably painted with lead-based paint, in the USA. It'd been Mitch's ♥ when he was little and stayed often with his Gran, his room was Raggedy decor.
In place of the immediate feelings of having been robbed of knowing Mitch long enough for him to share that information with me directly, came an easy opportunity for me to bring that Little Boy Mitch into our lives in a real way.
Each experience with Ann & Andy reminded us that our family once contained someone who found joy in their presence. As if the characters were silent witnesses to experiences we can only imagine, experiences of that child who-once-was and who should-never-be-forgot. Never underestimate the value of sharing your childhood memories; it is through those memories - the conversations about them, the connections to them - that keep one truly alive long after the body is gone ♥