My First Cabbage Patch Kids

My aunt and grandma started hanging around the back of toy stores, hoping to catch the shipments when they arrived. One day they noticed a guy loading CPKs from the store back onto the truck. The deliveryman told her that these dolls were being sent back because they were damaged. My aunt, ever inventful, managed to sweet talk him into selling her two of the dolls -- a lemon loop girl with a blue pen mark on her face, and a shag tan-haired boy with some discoloration on his cheeks.

Monica got Anna, the girl, while I received Ernie Guy. I have to say, I was jealous that Monica got the girl. That jealousy was short-lived, as I had duties to attend to with my new little boy! His "defect," that almost got him sent back to who knows what fate, was no more than some light rubs. How could anyone not love his jaunty red cap, matching red shirt, jean romper and cute blue-striped sneakers? And who could say no to his sweet blue eyes, silly bed-head shag hair, and shy smile? Certainly not his new mom!

I was a very happy camper. I took Ernie to school, sitting him on the back counter of my 3rd grade class. I still remember turning around and seeing a row of kids waiting patiently for their moms to break for recess. My mom outfitted Ernie with a change of clothes, a red sailor suit for "special days". Someone also bought me a tiny sleeping bag for Ernie to accompany me to slumber parties.

Ernie and I had many happy days, but I still yearned for a little girl. In particular I wanted a red-haired girl. (I had an obsession with "Annie," the little orphan Annie movie/musical that came out around that time. After that movie I adored red hair.) My mom didn't have enought money to get me another CPK, so I started literally combing the couch cushions, washing machine, even the streets for loose change. I was fighting a losing battle - it would take me years to save the $30+ dollars -- but I was really set on another cabbie.

My aunt eventually felt so sorry for me that she went out and got me another one. She said that there were two that looked the same, but one was Gayla Cathy and the other Cathy Gayla. She thought Gayla for a 1st name sounded better, and I agreed. But alas, she did not know about my desire for red-hair, and bought me a blond. But who was I to look a gift cabbie in the mouth?

Ernie and Gayla stayed with me for many years, all the way until 1996. I was in New York at the time, and my mother was moving into a much smaller house. She called me one day and informed me that she had gone ahead and thrown out all my toys, assuming I wouldn't want them anymore. And what could I do, 3000 miles away? I got over some of them being gone, but never my Cabbage Patch Kids. I wanted to give them to my kids! (Yeah right...:^))

Then early this year, while cruising eBay, I discovered a cabbie that looked just like Ernie! Well, what's a distraught mother to do? I bought him, and the rest is history...