IGOR

(Written for English Comp Colby Community College 1976 )

Igor was a security blanket.

Lisa and I were barely teenagers when our sister Carol and her husband brought Christine home, wrapped in a beautiful blanket with satin piping.

By the time Chris was five, Igor was her constant companion. Her day started and ended with Igor. Igor went on countless car trips, he went to the zoo and amusement park. He traveled to the mountains and the lake, to rodeo’s and Grandma’s. Igor went daily to the babysitter and Sunday to church. Igor soothed Chris into thousands of naps and gave her courage when she was afraid. That darn blanket caused hours of searching when he got lost. We always found him.

In five years he had been washed and dried, patched and sewed, until he was a tattered 12 x 12 thermal square with a bit of satin edging.

Igor was still on the job.

We were in high school when Lisa and I took Chris (and Igor) to the theater to see Where the Red Fern Grows. At the end of the movie, Lisa and I had tears flowing down our cheeks. Chris offered us each a corner of Igor. To anyone else, it would not be a decent dust rag; to us, he was a friend.

Comfort in a little girl’s pocket!