My family and I learned a valuable lesson this past Labor Day weekend. Never leave Moosey behind! You see my nephew, Brody, has this stuffed moose that has become his confidant....his best friend. We all had something like this growing up. There's a lot to be said about these security blankets because they are more than just a blanket, stuffed animal, or doll. They protect us from what lurks in the dark, they give us confidence when we meet new people, they provide a source of comfort when we fall asleep on someone's shoulder, they keep our secrets, in short they become our first best friend and when they are missing we know it. Well,that's exactly what happened. Mr. Moosey was left behind. My sister is trying to break my nephew from having to take Mr. Moosey everywhere and she has done a pretty good job....he only has Mr. Moosey when he goes to bed. This seemed to work out perfectly fine and Brody was happy with this arrangement. Until what is known as dooms day to us all happened. As my sister starts driving to Tuskahoma she realizes that she has packed everything but forgot the stroller so she drives back with Brody in tow to get the stroller. She begins her journey again and then realizes, after being much to far out of town to return home again, that she does not have Moosey. Thinking that maybe if she does not bring the name up that Brody might be okay with it. He won't miss Moosey at all. He has is pacifier, which he only gets when he goes to bed, so surely he will be happy. None of us thought that he had put it together that when he gets one he gets the other.
We, the whole family, enjoy a great day at the Choctaw Festival. We got our traditional foot long corn dogs, lemonades, and looked for a good seat to watch the concerts. Brody has having a blast and was keeping us all entertained. Needless to say by the end of the night we were all tired and ready for bed. It was close to midnight as we walked backed to the car and I thought, "Brody will be asleep in no time after we start driving down the road". I also think this is our way out of not having Moosey and him not finding out because we have all been careful not to bring up his name.....Moosey was now being called Mr. M. It was about a thirty minute drive back to the trailer and who stayed awake the entire time......Brody.....he had a movie to watch in the car and he watched it until the credits rolled. Not once did those eyelids close. We all unload the car and get in the trailer and begin to get ready for bed. We begin to inflate the air mattresses that Brody thinks are made for him to jump on which he starts to do before it is inflated. He is laughing, running, and screaming....it is a sight to see and hear because his daddy is already in bed in the same room we are in trying to inflate the air mattress. As we all get dressed for bed and lay down Brody gets his passy and climbs into bed with his momma and daddy and then we hear it.....very quietly......"moosey". Very softly and sweetly his mother says, "Baby moosey is staying home to watch the house until we get back." Those where by no means the words that Brody wanted to hear. And then slowly as one tear at a time started to fall he walked towards the window with his hands reaching out and calling for his friend moosey. It was awful, sad, and heart wrenching to see him go through this. You would have thought he had lost his best friend....in his eyes he had. Hours went by before Brody finally settled down and actually went to sleep. I'm talking HOURS.....okay it was two in the morning. As the sun came up and we slowly start waking up one at at time realizing how tired we still are my sister sends a text message to a friend who is making their way to the festival to join us.
The text message read, "I don't care what you have to do to break into my house but please go get moosey". Needless to say Tim and his family show up with the infamous Mr. M and Brody did not let him out of his sight for the entire day.
