I bought myself a stuffed Stitch from Target like six years ago. I freaking loved it and slept with it every night for like a year. My little brother who was about eight at the time also loved it. He slept with it every time he came to my house. He mentioned how much he liked what a good cuddler it was & that it smelled like me. So I sent it home with him and ordered myself a replacement online.
Fast-forward to this week: he’s nearly 14, an angsty teenager going through puberty. Life looks different these days. I’m helping him clean his bedroom and I notice the Stitch sticking out from the edge of underneath his bed. I joke about it being abandoned on the floor. He says “Leave him there; I still sleep with him sometimes.” And my heart secretly swelled.
I’m raising him now. I’m no longer his favorite person in the whole world anymore. (Or at least it doesn’t feel like it most days.) That’s what happens when you shift from big sister to full-time sole parent. But in that moment, a small glimpse of the sweet baby boy that loved me so much peeked out and smiled at me. And I remembered who I am doing all of this for 💙
