|
Kate Policani
Author of the
"Todd the Amputeddy" series
The Amputeddy™
Story
My Aunt Jean –
her nieces and nephews all call her
Mimi – was born with a rare condition that forced the amputation of her left leg, below the knee, when she was just 5 years old.
From that start in life, she went on to high school marching band, scuba
diving, parasailing, African safari-ing, and working beside her OB/GYN husband
in operating theater and delivery room.
One day in the late
spring of 1988, Mimi told me an idea she had. She said that children who
have gone through the trauma of amputation should have something they
can identify with, like a bear or a doll with a missing limb just like theirs. She
said losing a limb involves a mourning process, and people feel they
have no one who knows what they are going through.
I was electrified by the idea. I knew it had to be a
bear. And it had to be named Amputeddy.
I got together scraps of
cloth and buttons and the tail from a plastic toy pony (for hair) and assembled
the
very
first Amputeddy for my aunt. It was a cartoonish, cream-colored thing
that was more a cloth sculpture than an actual stuffed animal. It had the same
amputation as she does and its little prosthesis was held in shape by a toilet
paper tube. I sewed it all by hand, with no pattern of any kind. (Did I mention
I was 13?) I wrapped it up and gave it to her as a gift.
I showed Amputeddy to my
grandmother, Mimi’s mom. At 78 years old, Ann Crowley had a new mission in
life. She found a pattern, and, summoning a lifetime of sewing experience,
created what became the Amputeddy prototype.
Grandma
made most of the Amputeddys until she was 91. I don’t
think anyone kept count, but she must have made well over 300 of them.
They all went out into the world as gifts from Grandma (production and
distribution) and Mimi (financing and distribution).
Grandma gave me her original to keep. It now sits in my son's room, a
reminder of those who are close to us who have bravely faced life - not
intact, but still whole.
Kate
Policani. October 2003, Seattle, Washington |
