Our Daughter's Favourite Companion
Frida is my daughter's doll. She arrived as a promotional gift tucked into a bedding set that my parents-in-law had ordered. No one could have predicted that this particular doll would claim our daughter's heart and become her steadfast companion through every season of early childhood.
Nowhere Without Her
Frida went everywhere. She was there at the childminder's and at nursery, on playgrounds and on holidays. When primary school arrived and it became slightly uncool to carry a doll in public, Frida stayed at home, but she was never absent from the bed at night. Together, we lived through quite a few adventures. There were evenings of mild panic when Frida could not be found and we were already drafting lost-and-found notices, only to receive a relieved call from the childminder. Other times she turned up under the car seat, in the bicycle shed, or in the playhouse. Each time we thought: this is it, she is truly gone, and that would have been a genuine catastrophe, because there was no simply buying another Frida.
Frida and Bruno, the French Bulldog
When our daughter was around three years old, my sister brought home a French bulldog named Bruno. Bruno took an immediate and enthusiastic liking to Frida, in the way that puppies like things they can snatch and run with. The moment he grabbed her from our daughter's arms, every adult in the room gave chase, and Bruno was beside himself with joy at having secured the attention of four grown-ups at once. He grasped in a flash that this was the ideal way to command everyone's attention and found the whole situation marvellous. We caught him eventually. Bruno was delighted, Frida bore a few small bite marks, and our daughter had her doll back. Naturally, Bruno made a point of trying to repeat this game on every subsequent visit.
Frida's Double
One sunny afternoon we wandered through a flea market and, after a while, a red-haired little doll caught our eye. She was not quite identical: the body and hair were a perfect match, but she wore an orange dress where our Frida wore blue, and the fabric shoes were different too. Still, she was close enough to count as a twin. She moved in with us that same day. She always lived a little in Frida's shadow, but the two of them arranged themselves quite well.
Frida Visits the Doll Doctor
When my daughter was in second year and Frida had therefore been with us for about seven years, it became clear that she needed some care. Frida is made entirely of fabric and after more than two thousand five hundred days and nights she had become, as we say in German, zerliebt, loved to pieces, the most beautiful way a thing can be worn out. We were fortunate: in our town there was a woman who collected and repaired dolls. We visited her together and placed Frida in good hands. The woman worked quietly and carefully, restoring Frida as best she could so that she might stay beside my daughter for many more years. We bridged the days of absence with Frida's double.
Frida and Adolescence
What can I say? Both of them have now reached the wonderful and complicated age of adolescence. This has not made things straightforward for Frida: when friends visit, she sometimes has to retreat into a drawer, and sleepovers are no longer an option. But she remains enormously important. You can see her age clearly on her face, and yet she is not allowed to disappear entirely. Hopefully she never will, because each of us remembers our faithful companion, and some of us still know exactly where ours is.
Frida and the Memorial Bead
Through Moments we found a way to let Frida remain part of a young person's life as she grows. I cut a small piece from Frida's blue dress and a little of her orange hair, and had these fragments set into a bead. From those two small pieces, Moments crafted a personal, one-of-a-kind piece of jewellery. My daughter will receive this piece from me as a gift for her coming-of-age celebration. What it holds can of course remain her own quiet secret. But in my heart I know that I have found a way to keep Frida close to her side, always.
