Sammy Lamby Cake

Mary had a little lamb
It's fleece was white as snow,
And everywhere that Mary went
The lamb was sure to go.
~Sarah J. Hale

For those of you who have not yet met Sammy Lamby, he has been with the Princess since she was a baby. In fact, while taking a good look at him to get an idea of what colors to mix for the icing on the cake I would be decorating, the Princess mentioned that he was quite old: "After all, he is eight years old."

We found Sammy with lonely eyes in a store looking down from a shelf too high for any child to reach him, peering right at my baby girl, and from the moment my husband placed him in her arms there was a connection. She would not even let go of him long enough to be scanned by the sales clerk. Whenever and wherever she was to lie her head to sleep, Sammy was there. She would rub the silk of his "hand" with her own as she drifted off.

From the first moment they met, Sammy Lamby was her security blanket and friend; he still is. She still sleeps with him, sometimes hugging Sammy all the night and other times he is among the growing pile of "friends" she picks to sleep beside her. Without a hint of embarrassment, there are times she still takes Sammy Lamby to church or he rides with us to piano lessons. Much like the Velveteen Rabbit, the love of eight years, from blanketing her as a baby to being her constant sleeping companion to being lugged around to explore the world with her, shows on our sweet Sammy Lamby. He is not as bright or silky, but he is irreplaceable...our Sammy Lamby.

I don't know how many more years it will be before the Princess will keep Sammy Lamby so close to her, so I was thrilled when she picked a Sammy Lamby cake for this year. In the last year, I have noticed that she has become a capable and more independent being, no longer a young child who needs help with everything, but more of a helper herself. Yet, she holds Sammy dear still, as well as Hunny Bunny, who is next to Sammy because that little pink rabbit has been Sammy's companion for nearly all those eight years.

My Lord, it will be a sad day for me should my daughter toss aside things that have been so dear to her. Please help us all to appreciate that life is about change, that nothing remains as it always was. Likewise, this earthly life will pass away and we are promised a new life in heaven and such wonders that we cannot imagine, but to see them we must let go of what we hold dear to us here and now, but I thank you, my Lord, for the memories.