Getting O ready for school yesterday, I found his beloved ‘dee dees’. It’s what he calls his blankie. It started out as a crib sized fleece blanket but once he attached himself to it, I realized that we had better get a new one as back up. They discontinued it. I bought one similar, but it wasn’t worn in the same way and certainly didn’t smell remotely similar. I kept the new one on top of the washer and just kept on washing and drying it to wear it in. It never caught on so I cut the original ‘Dee dees’ in half, then eventually half again, and again. I think that the last remaining piece is about 1/8th the size of the original. He had all but forgotten about ‘Dee dees’ and had somewhat replaced it with ‘Puff’, a cute little well loved stuffed dog. But, when I showed him that I found ‘Dee dees’, the look of pure love danced in his eyes. That joy continued for the entire day. Apparently he told everyone that he encountered about the resurfacing of ‘Dee dees’. People who he didn’t even know got an earful of this little boy rambling on about something that they didn’t quite understand, but the outpouring of enthusiasm was palpable. You didn’t need to hear the words. Needless to say, ‘Dee dees’ hasn’t left his side since it’s reappearance into our world. Now O carries Puff and Dee dees everywhere with him. He is comforted by them and if there is anything that will provide him comfort, I welcome it with open arms as well.