In textile design in college, I created a GIANT 6ft slug out of fabric for some reason. I had forgotten all about it! Our daughter is a digital media arts major taking a 3D sculpture class. A friend of hers also made a giant, in her case, a flying insect.

Suddenly, I remembered my slug! He was made with bed sheets that we happened to have that my mum no longer cared about. He had eyes and gangly antennae. She desperately wanted to see a photo and spent ages rummaging through loose prints. I know I have photos of all my past work… but no slug.

I could see him in my memory and asked if a sketch would do. “YES!”

After I drew it, I also remembered that in the ’70s I grew up with a ‘door draft snake!’ It was a handmade giant snake that lived along the bottom of a patio door to protect us from cold Canadian drafts. When I was young, I recalled laying next to it, patting it’s sweet head, and talking to it. I LOVED all the stuffed animals. They were all alive to me. (*I couldn’t find any ’70s style era door snakes… but this one is pretty darn cute – and not a snake…)

Perhaps my slug was a hybrid/quasi-functional friend that I wanted to bring to life as a young adult?!

Our daughter and her friends gleefully declared my old dear slug – the “vanquisher of sadness and drafts.” May he bring you good memories of your childhood also today.

Do you have memories of stuffed animals that bring you back to your childhood? Share in the comments below!