A story of a young lady and her Grandmother who both prove you are never to old to love dolls

 Today I would like to share with you a story about a young lady named Lauren and her Grandmothers trip to the American Girl Doll store in LA. Here is Lauren's story in her own words...

Christmas 2009, my grandma and I were sitting on our couch chatting. She had my bitty twins, Emily and James sitting with her, and I was cuddling Molly. "I'd love to visit an American Girl Place." I mentioned with a sigh, know that it was next to impossible. "Well," replied my grandma, "where's the nearest one?" "Los Angeles." My dad leaned over from the computer desk and said over his shoulder, "Did you know that there are repositioning cruises between L.A. and Vancouver?" And that was it.

Okay, well, not quite. I did a TON of research in the following weeks, planned out a specific budget, and searched for a cruise that would fit my busy Grade 12 schedule. But that was hardly the most difficult part - convincing my mother that this was something I wanted to do, she's one of many people who believe that I was "too old for dolls". A 'muggle' in our world, a non doll-loving person. I think it helped that Grandma was ready to jump in with both feet!

Late April rolled around and we were ready. The hotel was booked, the cruise was booked, our dinner at American Girl Place was booked, the flight was booked and Molly had been changed in and out of several outfits until we finally decided on her Party dress that I'd made for her.

A Crazy Random Happenstance: while going through Vancouver Airport security, I'd left Molly in my carry-on. I got through without a problem, but on the other side, the security guy asked, "Is this your bag?" pointing to my bulging backpack. "Uh, yeah." I replied, nervous, what had I forgotten in there? But then he grinned and spun the computer screen around so that I could see it. "That, is by far the creepiest I've seen come through here." On the screen, there was Molly, but she looked like something from a freaky movie. You could faintly see the parts of her that were vinyl, couldn't see her hair at all, but it was the eyes! Being metal, they showed up really well, they looked like they were glowing! Yikes! We had a good laugh about that.

Once we finally got to AGP, I spent several hours wandering through the displays again and again and again! I eventually picked out Julie and some outfits, including long-awaited ice skates to go with the figure skating outfit I'd made a while ago. The employees were great and the store was practically empty! We almost had the place to ourselves!

During the three-day cruise that followed, I was mostly confined to my room with sea sickness due to the copious rocking of the ship. But that wasn't so bad, my grandma spent most of our time playing with Julie and Molly and chatting about endless other topics. This was the best part of the trip, by far. Grandma and I got to share stories and laughter and get to know each other a little better. 

I am so thankful that Lauren and her Grandmother chose to share their story with us.

As with all my posts I would love to hear from you so please leave me a comment here or email me at karenmowen@gmail.com