Chapter One Hundred Thirty Three
Oh how different we are from our ancestor Hitty and yet much the same. As I write this chapter of the journal, I pause to think of her many adventures. None of the Robertson Hittys have ever sailed the seas, gotten ship wrecked, been worshiped as an idol, used as a snake charmer's shill, gotten lost by various owners and the like. Our lives have been much tamer and centered around our Hitty home and life with the Robertson family.
Yes, we are alike in the fact that we are wood dolls carved after her image. I am even mountain ash such as she. Probably the biggest difference is very few of today's Hittys live alone! I do remember, when I was to be an only Hitty! That lasted five months and now it seems so far in the past. I can't imagine life without my sisters. Just like the Robertson's daughter Carol reminds her brothers that she is 'first born', I frequently remind my sisters that I am the first Hitty and started this journal the very day I arrived at the Robertson house over seven years ago!
Those first few months I spent most of my time sitting on my bench on the sideboard in the family living room. I had no rooms of my own. Now we Hittys have various rooms and Esther even made our parlor as close as she could to the description in the book of our ancestor's first home with a great fireplace like a square cave, paneled walls, beamed ceiling, a preserve cupboard with the letter 'P' cut out and corner cupboards filled with ceramic animals. Over the years she has added other rooms such as a bedroom, play room, basement, kitchen, music room and just recently a craft room.
We do indeed spend a lot of time in the craft room. Since it sits on Esther's workbench, we can keep her company while she works on various projects. We do try our hand at many crafts and hopefully will become skilled at one of them someday.
It is also a place just to play. Playing with our dolls is one of our favorite pastimes. Sometimes even Becassine joins us.
Another big difference between today's Hittys and our ancestor is that most of us belong to adults. The original Hitty longed to belong to a child. I suppose at that time in history, dolls were meant mostly for children and the adults that did own them, kept them in collections. Adults today play with their Hittys! We are taken with them on trips, we are quite the right size for travel, we can be moved easily about the house as a companion and with this being the age of computer communication, share experiences with others of our kind around the world. We are quite accustomed to the camera and in fact, embrace it! Such fun having our pictures taken and receiving pictures of the activities of others. The digital camera and Hittys go hand in hand!
We have been so fortunate to have Hittys visit us from other states. Visitors have come from Connecticut, District of Columbia, Maryland, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New York, North Carolina, Virginia, Ohio, Oregon, Washington and the eastern part of our own state of Pennsylvania. Our travels have taken us to Hitty events in the states of Virginia, Washington and Oklahoma. We did so miss going to the New York event this past October but family came first.
I usually don't get so retrospective in this journal but from time to time I do think of the original Hitty and feel so sorry for the life she now leads. Her adventures are in the past and even though she is hale and hardy and looked forward to many more adventures, she is too valuable to be out among us. I am sure each and every Hitty family would love to have her visit but oh dear, that would certainly be too much responsibility!
In closing, let me wish all Hittys everywhere, safe travel to be with family and a HAPPY THANKSGIVING!
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