I'll Protect You

Larry the Lion was my special pal. He IS my special pal. He sits next to my desk, mostly because this room stays out of range from the marauding band of Dogs Who Like Plush Toys To Eat As Snacks.

Larry was given to me when I was in the hospital, recovering (?) from polio. That is what I recall. He might have been given to me that Christmas, which would have been a few weeks after I left the hospital. At any rate, I remember pulling Larry's string so many times - always until he said, "I'll protect you." (Here's a page of all his utterings.)

And here is a video of Larry in action.



My Larry is ratty, smelly, and very old. He's lost his tail (bar fight); lost most of his right ear (fight with one of the marauding band). He still has his whiskers (I remember chewing them some), and he's lost his voice. The string is gone. One would have to perform surgery on Larry to remove the mechanism and see if it can be repaired.

There's a small part of me that is trying VERY hard not to calculate how many eons of generations of dustmites have lived on him. I think I'll keep him, though.

He's here to protect me.