Her name is Belinda.  She was tucked away in a cupboard at my parent’s house for many years, but Clare recently found her and now she is at home with us.  I think that my Gran gave her to me.  The dress isn’t the one that she originally came in; it is one that I begged my mum to buy for Belinda at my primary school art show.

Slightly spookily, one of my dearest, oldest friends (I met her in my first year of uni) looks very much like this doll – and her name is Belinda!

I do have another treasured possession from my childhood.  My Gran had three sons and was thrilled when she eventually had two granddaughters.  She collected china figurines and kept them in two cabinets, one to be bequeathed to my cousin, and one for me. 

She used to take us into the special room in which the cabinets were kept and lift me up high so that I could see the beautiful treasures which she had collected on her overseas travels.  “Look, but don’t touch!”  I especially liked the ballerinas with china lace skirts – which were the most difficult for me to see, since they were on the top shelf.

Gran died when I was around 12 or 13, and the cabinet has been in my parent’s house until a few months ago when it finally made it’s way to Melbourne and our new upstairs hallway.  My hubby would love to sell the cabinet and all the ornaments within it, but there is no way that I could part with it – it is inextricably linked to my Gran.  Each time that that I look at it I think of her.