It's a comfort thing...

Not my sofa, picture courtesy of internet

My little grandson A ended up in A&E last night.He had cut his foot and the wound needed stitching.A traumatic experience for him and his parents but as he lay there sedated, bless him, he had his toy monkey Nanas with him for comfort. All my grandchildren have their favourite cuddly toys, M has her dogs and cats, A has his cuddly snowman Frosty and bulldog Toby, E, of course has her snakes (all named either Jack or Sally) and little O has her monkey. My sons both had their own favourite cuddly toys, C had his dog, Dep (named after Deputy dog, a cartoon he used to watch when he was little) handmade by his Auntie and M had a bear, George.These toys were so precious, neither would go to bed without them and we could rarely go on an outing without them. A very dangerous thing to do with hindsight, the consequence of losing them doesn't bear thinking about.Thankfully we never actually lost either of them but came close on a couple of occasions.
My late brother David had a teddy bear he named Basil. Basil wasn't a 'posh' bear, he didn't have moveable limbs and was stuffed with sawdust but he was bought for David when he was sent away to a boarding school for 'delicate' children in the 60's. David was a severe asthmatic and living as we did in a mining village,  where most of the houses burned coal, the air quality must have been very poor and he had one asthma attack after another. Asthma can still be extremely serious nowadays if it's poorly controlled but back then the treatments were nowhere near as effective. The doctors and my parents agreed to let David go to a state funded residential boarding school in Ingleborough, North Yorkshire where it was thought then that the clean air would provide some respite or even cure his asthma. I know my parents feel guilty to this day for 'sending him away' but they did it with the best of intentions and David was well when he was away but relapsed each time he came home at the end of terms. Naturally, he missed us, his sister and brothers and parents and Basil was bought as a comfort for him.He loved that bear and even to the day he died Basil was never far away.If only Basil could talk.I wonder what secrets he would have kept all these years? To this day Basil is still somewhere at my parents house and I will give him a good home when we come across him again.
I remember well how much my boys loved their toys. I still have them in my keeping and the mere sight of them brings back lots of lovely memories.
I often read your blogs and see old cuddly toys being 'rescued' and given a new lease of life and wonder who would have pre-loved them and cared for them. Am I the only one sentimental enough to never want to part with such treasured things? One of the blogs I love to read is 'Fading Grace', Sophie often writes about old toys and it's a joy to read how much she loves them. If you haven't read her blog, you are missing a treat.
I wonder why some children find an instant and lasting bond with one cuddly toy in particular?
Have any of you still got your precious childhood cuddlies? Would you ever part with them?