Hymie was Dan’s friend for longer than he’d like to admit. Hymie went into the attic with other childhood toys when Dan left home. Mom and I were going through the attic, looking for toys for Iris. There are a lot of toys in that attic.

There are also a lot of mice in that attic. By some fluke of box location and Hymie location within the box, the mice had not yet met Hymie. However, despite lack of mice, there is still not much left of Hymie’s integrity.

Dan’s bravery in saying goodbye to Hymie today has given me the strength to say good-bye to any and every one of my stuffed animals should I run across them— the multitudes of which, in total, did not hold as much meaning for me as one single Hymie held for Dan.