Toys for Tots

On Sunday, the faves and I went over to Dock and Dizzles to have lunch with them. When we opened their door to enter, we were surprised to find them downstairs in Docks office. We were even more surprised to see boxes, toys, pictures and Christmas decorations covering the first floor.

Of course, this inspired Dizz to share her stories with us. First, she went through a stack of frames filled with photos from several going away parties. My favorite being a large framed picture of the high school I attended. Next, were old pictures of the jam. Bub & his bowl cut, me with my hot-rolled hair & braces, both of us smiling awkwardly. The last thing that Dizzle found to share? My American Girl Dolls- all 6 of them.

When Dizzle introduced Kirstin, Samantha, Addy, Josefina, Felicity & Molly (yes, I still know their names) I was pleasantly surprised that the faves had their own memories of these same dolls. (Even though Becky’s memory was that she and I used to pretend they were rappers…while we were in high school.)

The American Girl dolls were an important part of my childhood. They were all given to me as gifts, so each Christmas for 6 years I had something to really look forward to. The fact that they’ve made it from MN to Baltimore and everywhere in between is pretty impressive.

Being reminded of how significant Christmas gifts can be allows me to reflect on what this weekend was about. 2009 has been an amazing year for me- by far the best yet. To help celebrate that, I hosted a toys for tots event for my friends and family to get together and donate their time and gifts while enjoying each others’ company. In a short time, we were able to collect over 100 toys to donate to Baltimore’s children.

I don’t remember seeing any American Girl dolls to donate, but I am confident that these toys will provide great memories for some special children this Christmas.

To learn more about Baltimore’s Toys for Tots program, check out: http://www.toysfortotsbaltimore.org/

Thank you to all that came out on Saturday!