This project was way too easy for crapsmanship to interfere, but my heart is certainly tied up in its telling.  The little guy in the shadowbox is Beany Bear.  He’s as old as I am (OLD!), and he was my favorite stuffed animal during my youth.  He’s not only dear to my heart, but he’s been a favorite with many of my former students.  Beany Bear has been the subject of many, many writings I’ve done for students to teach them how to pick a topic, draft, revise, edit, and lots of other writing skills.  I write about the time that I was six and getting ready for my first dance recital.  My two-year-old sister Laurie was jealous, so she took my mother’s red lipstick and smeared it all over poor Beany Bear.

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