The Mystery of the Doll (or A Doll's Journey)

A few days before Christmas a package arrived from Colorado addressed to my granddaughter Megan. It was from her Great-Grandmother Emma (my mother-in-law). The package was an original shipping box from the seller, and "Megan" had been written on the side. The original shipping label, on an envelope attached to the box, had a new label glued over it, directing it to Megan's address.

Neither the box nor the envelope had ever been opened.

On Christmas morning Megan opened this gift. Here is what it contained:

It is a collectible nursemaid doll with her infant charge.

Here is the rest of the story.

Emma is now 95 years old. Last summer it became clear that she could no longer live alone safely, so she moved to a care facility. When clearing her apartment, her daughter Jean found the doll's box on top of the kitchen cupboards. Since it had Megan's name written on it, she thought it would be a nice Christmas surprise and saved it until then to send on. She did not open the box before relabeling it and sending it on.

Emma's memory has become a little quirky and she does not really remember anything about when she got the doll.

I opened the envelope with the original shipping label. Inside was the invoice for the doll, dated January 2, 2002. Emma had ordered, received, but never opened the package eleven years ago! At that time she lived in Buena Vista, Colorado. Several years ago she moved to Bayfield, Colorado. The doll box moved with her and was stashed by someone on top of the cupboards in her new apartment, to be found last summer when her apartment was cleared.

Christmas morning. Megan (wearing a hat she made)
 with the nursemaid and baby dolls.

We don't know when Emma wrote Megan's name on the box, but in January 2002 Megan was four years old.

For years Emma had the habit of ordering or buying things that caught her eye throughout the year. She would store them away until Christmas season and then sort and send them out as gifts. We speculate that the doll was such a purchase, but it was stored away so deeply that it was overlooked year after year, being moved when Emma moved. Emma may not even have seen the box when she moved to Bayfield, as family members were doing the moving for her.

The overlooked doll now has a home!