Tidepools and Wildflowers

I grew up with The Velveteen Rabbit, a book that I always felt a connection with, because I had my own stuffed rabbit. His name was Ho-Bunny because when my dad returned from a work trip and brought him in to my room, family legend has it that 18-month old me stood up in my crib and held out my arms for him and uttered “Ho!” in what I imagine was a delighted chortle. He was my stuffed animal soulmate and went everywhere with me. For years people gave me rabbits of one sort or another thinking that I must really love rabbits, but it wasn’t so much that I loved rabbits- I loved THAT rabbit.

In the book, the Velveteen rabbit has a conversation with the Skin Horse about what it means to be real:

“ ‘Real isn’t how you are made,’ said the Skin Horse. It’s a thing that happens to you. When a child loves you for a long, long time, not just to play with, but REALLY loves you, then you become Real.’

“ ‘Does it hurt?’ asked the Rabbit.

“ ‘Sometimes,’ said the Skin Horse, for he was always truthful. When you are real you don’t mind being hurt.’

“ ‘Does it happen all at once, like being wound up,’ he asked, ‘or bit by bit?’

“ ‘It doesn’t happen all at once,’ said the Skin Horse. ‘You become. It takes a long time. That’s why it doesn’t happen often to people who break easily, or have sharp edges, or who have to be carefully kept. Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real, you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.’” (The Velveteen Rabbit, Margery Williams, pp 11-14, 100th Anniversary Edition).

Somewhere, I am absolutely convinced that there are many descendants of my bunny, who of course became real, because who can argue that he wasn’t loved into realness?

So I am looking forward to reading The Velveteen Rabbit again along with the wonderful more recent book by Kate DiCamillo, The Miraculous Journey of Edward Tulane, two of my all time favorite bunny-related books.

My wish for all of us is that we become as Real as possible.