The best childhood gift

In retrospect, I didn’t need it.

When I was 4, I attended my younger cousin’s birthday party, where she received a doll from our grandparents. For some reason that bothered me. So much so that I spent the remainder of the party pouting in the other room. Even though I never enjoyed playing with dolls, I wanted that doll so badly. So the next month when Christmas rolled around, the doll was at the top of my list.

I ended up receiving the doll from my grandparents. With no surprise to my parents, I played with the doll no more than five times before finding a place for it under my bed, where I’d never see it again. But none of that mattered to me. I was just happy my cousin wasn’t the only one who had the option of playing with it.

–Megan Nickel, for The Clarion