To the editor:

A friend told me that she bought a stuffed doll at a house sale for $700. The doll was life-size, posed in a sitting position. Her legs were crossed under her and a cigarette in her hand.

I thought that was a cute idea and decided to make one for myself and save the money. I purchased three yards of flesh-colored fabric, a false face and a wig.

I measured my own body: size 16, 5 foot tall with ample bosoms. I cut the form and began my project.

Sewing was the easy part. I have been doing that since I was a young girl. She (by this time I had named her Molly) came together nicely.

The next step was to stuff her and give her a face. I tried to make her face pretty and lifelike, but she came out scary. It was then that I realized I had picked out a man’s false face. I rushed back to the shop and purchased a woman’s face. After much work with makeup, she did not look scary, just startled.

Leaving the face as it was, I began to dress “Molly.” It was then that I noticed that I had sewn her rear end to her front so that she had a big bump where her waist should have been. I ignored this and put slacks on her, a nice t-shirt, hose and shoes on her feet. I covered her neck with a beautiful scarf to cover any stitching.

I then stood back and declared her perfect!

Molly was settled in a chair in my living room. When I would open the front door, she was the first thing people saw and almost without exception everyone would say “Hello” to her. I never bothered to correct them unless they were invited in.

Now, Molly became a member of the household. Since I live alone, I often made comments to Molly and she seemed to nod her head in agreement. My little dog did, too.

Molly sat in that chair for four years. My little dog found her lap a cozy place to take her naps. The time came when I had to move her to the guest room. In that room she sat in her chair and seemed to be content. When my dog was allowed in the room, she sought out Molly’s lap again.

One day I had to move Molly from the chair and put her on the guest bed. After two attempts to seat her on the bed, I thought I had her settled and turned away. Molly fell forward, hit me on the back and knocked me to the floor. I was flat on my stomach, not hurt but helpless!

Now that in itself would not be tragic, except I am 94 years old and I cannot get up from a prone position. I looked around for some way to get up and could not find one. I decided to just rest on the floor until my friend came back from walking the dog.

When she returned, I called for her to step into the guest room. She was shocked to see me on the floor. She rushed over to help and was not able to lift me up. Finally, she pushed a chair over and by steadying the chair I was able to get into my seat. There was much laughter and humiliation for me.

I do have “Life Alert.” It is a fine service and I have used it two occasions, but I did not feel that I should call them since they would send four lovely young men out to find me unhurt.

There was much laughter and I was weak from the effort of pulling my dead weight into the chair. I was embarrassed beyond belief about the whole affair.

Now here is the question: SHOULD I GET RID OF MOLLY?

Dorothy Dvorak, Fort Myers, Fla. (formerly of Brown County)

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