Do you have a keepsake that you keep near you, even when you travel? Is there something you need to have nearby at all times?
I haven’t experienced this as an adult, but as a young child I had a blanket that had to be available to me or the uproar would be unbearable. It was a thin child’s quilt that was a faded pink. I’d leave it on the floor until bedtime to chill it. I’d form a circle with my thumb and last three fingers and draw the blanket through the circle to chill my cheek, and I bent my index finger and sucked on it.
Mother says that I used to stand next to the washer and dryer when I was forced to give the blanket up to be washed. She couldn’t pry me loose. I was probably about six when my father used Blankie as a rag. They tried to find all sorts of substitutes, but it was never the same. I could never get them to admit that it was a conspiracy to get me to stop sucking my index finger.
Today, I discovered what happens when your parents aren’t successful in weaning you from your childhood talismen. You become a 25 year old who carries a blanket and a teddy everywhere you go. Can’t you see having to explain about the blanket to your boss? Worse yet…..how to you tell your lover to “GET OFF MY BLANKIE!”?? Or when your four year old reaches for your teddy….”Touch my teddy and DIE!”
All I can say is……”Thanks, Mom and Dad, for helping me give it up!”