Today is the 5th anniversary of the
transition of my dear friend Molly Pearce Eaker. In her honor – I wrote
this story. The details may not be exact, but the basic story is
true. I love you and miss you so much, Mollywog! Thanks for being
such a gift in my life!
DINO MOLLY
When Molly was young, she had this love affair
with Little Foot, the young Brontosaurus ("Longneck") from the movie
“Land Before Time.” We watched that movie over and over and over
when I was Molly’s caregiver. I grew to know Cera Triceratops, Spike
Stegosaurus, Chomper Tyrannosaurus and all of Little Foot’s other friends very
VERY VERY well!
One of Molly’s most prized possessions was a
large stuffed Little Foot that she carried around everywhere. Unfortunately,
there were times when Little Foot would sneak away somewhere – into a place
where Molly could not find him. Enter a Molly Meltdown. Little Foot
had to be within her range of vision at all times, and if he was not, the world
collapsed around her. I remember many many frantic dino-hunts, sometimes
for Little Foot, and sometimes for another very important Dinosaur in Molly’s
life, Barney. Seems we were always hunting for one or the other. And with
Molly there was no “Let’s look for it later after we finish this game.”
It had to be NOW, or the walls came tumbling down!
One morning shortly after I arrived, we were
playing dress up, and she realized she didn’t see Little Foot anywhere. I
was dispatched to search for him, which I did for about 10 minutes, with no
success. I called Molly's mom, Melisa, to see if maybe Little Foot got
left in the car, but Molly had not been in the car since he disappeared. He had
to be hiding someplace in the house. After 15 minutes, Molly began
working up to what I knew would be a dramatic encounter. She wanted
Little Foot, and she wanted him now. I managed to find Barney and offered
him to her, but she wanted nothing to do with that goofy smiling purple and
green reptile. I was tearing through her toys, her closet, her bedroom,
every room in the house she might have been in – but no luck. She
followed me around, dragging her feeding pump behind her – getting louder
and louder in her protests… and I have to be honest – I was starting to panic
too.
After about 20 minutes (that seemed like 20
hours) I remember looking back at Molly and noticing that she was not only
crying, but her eyes were starting to get that glazed over look – so I said
loudly, “Molly… try to remember… when did you last see Little
Foot?” She was making too much noise on her own to hear me – so I kind of
shouted at her – but no response. I reached down and took one of her
hands in each of mine… looking right at her… and saying very loudly
“Molly Jo Pearce… LOOK AT ME!” She kind of jumped – and for a moment I
got her attention. Quickly I said it again “When did you last see Little
Foot?” There was a pause, and then her eyes opened wide and she
blurted out “We brushed our teeth together this morning – in the bathroom!”
I had looked in the bathroom probably 5 separate times,
but I rushed back again. No Little Foot. Then it came to me. “Come
on Molly!” I grabbed her hand, pulling her and her pump behind me to the
laundry room. There, in a basket, under some wet towels, was Little Foot,
slightly damp, but otherwise in fine condition. He must have gotten
accidentally swept up with the towels by someone who had no idea what trauma
they were about to cause! Molly grabbed the dinosaur and hugged him to
her, tears still on her pale cheeks. I stood there, my breath coming fast
from exertion and stress, my clothes rumpled and my hair tousled from shoving
my head in closets and under beds.
After a minute, Molly looked up at me with those
big innocent eyes, smiled and said quietly, “I was never worried. I knew
where he was all the time!”
