Cabbage Patch Dolls

Just over twenty-five years ago my Great-Grandma Eva saw some Cabbage Patch Dolls advertised just before Christmas at BEST (a store that has long since closed).  She thought these would make great Christmas presents for my brother and me but wasn't sure which of the hundreds of choices she should choose. 

This is where her sneaky nature comes in to play.  My Great-Grandma Eva asked my mom to take Derek and me to BEST and tell us that Grandma Eva knew some kids just our age that she wanted to buy some Cabbage Patch Dolls for.  The girl "happened" to be my age and the boy "happened" to be Derek's age.  My mom told us that Grandma Eva thought that we should pick out the dolls because we would know what the kids would like since they were our age.  Sneaky idea, right?

Wrong.  I specifically remember walking down the entire isle at BEST and finding one doll that I fell in love with.  She was beautiful.  That wasn't the doll that I told my mom I thought my Grandma Eva should buy, though.  Because although I was young, I realized that if my Grandma bought that doll for another girl, no one would be able to buy it for me.  So, I picked a different doll for my Grandma to buy "for the girl who just happened to be my age."

Now, you can guess what my Grandma Eva bought for me for Christmas.  The doll that I didn't want.  It's funny because although I remember being disappointed at first, I did grow to love this Cabbage Patch Doll.  I don't remember her name, but I loved her enough to keep her for over 25 years.

Now that I'm a mom, I've passed my doll on to Macy.  We've renamed her Maggie and she has a new friend.  When Cabbage Patch celebrated their 25th Anniversary around the time of Macy's first Christmas, I felt that it was a calling for me to buy Macy a doll when I looked down and saw her name was Eva BettyLou.