I remember I'll soon be...

I used to have a little dinosaur in my room. This dinosaur stored change, and I rarely opened the bottom to remove its meager gains. (I used to be a small child, without the means or necessity to accumulate change very fast.) As a child, I used the dinosaur, in conjunction with the miniature Godzilla my uncle brought back from Japan for me, to terrorize the Hot Wheels on my neato i-board. The dinosaur provided both enjoyment and a sense of fiduciary responsibility.

When I was an older child, I acquired a lemur, a gift from my sister after a visit to the Memphis Zoo. Since then, the lemur has been a constant friend, present in a spot where I regularly see it, like in front of my computer or on the ledge by my bed. It, and my flying squirrel, have been fairly faithful in being there when I need them to relax or rewind.

This is an interesting phenomenon, I find. I've abandoned the hard plastic solidity of reptiles and the cold metal assurances of loose change for the soft comfort of the stuffed lemur and squirrel. But I like this.

Even better is that I have traded the black and white reassurances of my childhood for the more full understanding of the comfort and knowledge that I have received since. For it isn't found in the fire, nor in the wind.

And I remember I'll soon be...