Long ago and far away, when I was a little girl pouring over the catalogs dreamily, I always went to my favorite two dolls first. Addy and Felicity. Felicity and Addy. They were my dream girls! For Felicity the appeal was in large her love of Penny. I too was a lover of horses, though I never was able to own my own. (Someday, Mr. D promises. It's still on my birthday list every year!) I also was head over heels in love with her bed, and the fact that she was, like me, a tomboy who rejected the notion of being limited to only "ladylike" pursuits, though she liked being able to dress up and go to a ball now and then. (I also sort of adore red heads, which explains my strange obsession with Fred and George Weasley to this day.)
Then there was Addy. I was given both her and Felicity's books one year, and from the moment I read about her I was hooked. Addy is simply amazing. She is everything that an American Girl should be. Brave. Honest. Faithful. Loving. She has hopes and dreams like every little girl out there, and throughout her books she discovers that those dreams aren't always the reality of the situation. She doesn't let that stop her though, because she is learning about what is truly important, and her resilience to horrible situations is something to be admired. Addy also questions inequality. She doesn't just go along with it because "that's how it is". She wants to know why. She wants it to be different, and I firmly believe that Addy would have spent her life trying to make it so.
Add to that the fact that Addy is absolutely stunning, and her collection amazing, (that rope bed, folks) and she was the other girls I wanted, needed, and couldn't live without.
Fast forward several decades, and I somehow managed to live. It didn't meant I didn't still want though, and the first time I walked into an American Girl store as a woman of 30 I cried. (And probably really alarmed the employees. I was pregnant at the time, so maybe we can blame it on the hormones.) I cried, too, when I opened up my very own Felicity one Christmas morning. No one judged me this time. My children and Mr. D knew what this meant to me. She was secondhand, pre-loved, with legs that swung if so much as blew on them, but she was mine! Finally, mine! And, I had an advantage that 7 year old me never could have. As an adult, I can now hunt down her collection and have it all! Challenging? Yes. I enjoy the rush of the hunt though, and Felicity has collected quite a wardrobe since I opened that brightly wrapped box. (Her legs still swing a bit though. I will have to get on that.)
Being an adult also meant that I could finally get Addy. Now, Addy was still available in the stores, but I wanted my Addy. The Addy with the pink dress and soft eyelashes that I'd daydreamed about for so many hours on end as a little thing. I've hunted, and I've searched. There have been times I've let an Addy go because of a hair cut or broken eyes, and a couple I have let go because the hair was a matted mess that I felt was beyond my abilities. (I'm new to this rehabing thing, remember.) There are a few I've loved and wanted on eBay that slipped through my fingers. I've kept searching though, because I knew my perfect Addy was out there.
And then I went to Melody's release, and it became extremely apparent that Addy is retiring. (I don't care what American Girl says on the subject. They aren't even carrying or restocking her entire line at this point. She's on her way out, the question is only when.) I panicked. In searching for my perfect Addy it looked very possible that I wasn't going to get one at all. So, less than 2 weeks after getting Melody, I drove right back to the store to pick out a BeForever Addy. My oldest and I went through every box they had, which didn't take long since they only have 6 on display at this point, (but sure you don't have any plans to retire her, AG. We believe you.) and found the sweetest little face starting back at us to bring home. Her sweet smile has gone straight to my heart, and she and Melody are probably my favorite two to photograph right now. (So, if you follow me on Instagram, you're going to be seeing a lot of them in the future. I'm not even going to say I'm sorry, because I'm not.)
I'm still hunting for my sweet PC Addy, and have big plans for when I find her. You see, it would be too simple to just have two Addys. Instead, one of my Addys will become Edith Aduke, the great-great-great-great granddaughter of Addy Walker. I'm excited, because this will give me the opportunity to have a "modern" doll of my own. I've never had my own, make-up-my-own-story modern doll before, and I might be more excited about it than a woman in her 30s should be. (Excited as in I stayed up until 2am writing out her entire family tree all the way back to Addy a couple of nights ago. It's a pretty awesome family tree full of strong, determined women!) Until then though, I am loving having my own Addy to dress up, photograph, and play with. (My youngest is loving it too. Addy seems to be her hands down favorite, and she might just need one before long.)
She's stunning, right?!
I'm behind on my Melody Release post. Everyone else has already shared the images they have of all the new things, I'm still going to share it though, because it was such an amazing experience. My oldest and I are already counting down to the release of the new GOTY on January first. I'm hoping that she is a girl that we'll both want to get. (She'll be a birthday present for me, because that's how I can justify it in my head.) I'm waiting anxiously for any leaks, so if anyone knows anything, I'd love to hear.
What was the first doll you got where you made up her story? Was she modern or a historical?
~Mrs. D
