tara and seal: a love story

I know we're in college, but it's not THAT weird to remain attached to a favorite childhood object, right?? Some people keep their teddy bears or baby blankets. I don't have one of those, but I do have Seal.

Seal is a white (okay, more like a dingy graying) stuffed animal that I got at the Baltimore Aquarium when I was about nine years old. Ever since then, he's slept in my bed every night. My mom made fun of me when I packed him for college, but I'm not ready to be separated from Seal just because I'm approaching adulthood.

Tracy objects to Seal because he's gotten a little worse for the wear over the years -- I would call him "well-loved," but she would call him "disgusting." Once during fall semester, she gave Seal a long-overdue bath. Because I wouldn't let her put him in the washing machine in case it destroyed him forever, she lovingly scrubbed him with laundry detergent in our bathroom sink and blow-dried his fur.

Despite his questionable hygiene, it's pretty clear that Seal is a hit. Visitors always enjoy playing games of "Seal ball" in the hallway, nuzzling Seal to their chests, and hiding Seal in secret spots around the room. The Erics (both Modrak and Piccirelli) love to find creative places to put Seal, which never fails to send me into a panic as I frantically search for him right before I want to go to sleep. I have discovered Seal on top of my lamp, behind my printer, and at the bottom of my laundry basket after having small panic attacks.

This past weekend, when Alejandro visited me in DC for a couple days, he had all the usual criticism -- Seal is gross and dirty, Seal is a ridiculous thing for a 20-year-old to keep in her bed every night, blah blah blah. I didn't care. I love Seal and I ignored all of Alejandro's threats to steal him away from me.

When Alejandro left to drive back to New Jersey, my room seemed like it was back to normal. It was finally clean and contained only one person's personal stuff. But when I went to get ready for bed, THERE WAS SOMETHING VERY WRONG. I couldn't find Seal ANYWHERE, even though I was sure I had put him on the end of my bed that morning. Alejandro and I had a ridiculous text message exchange while I tried desperately to find Seal:


Tara: WHERE IS SEAL WHERE IS SEAL WHERE IS SEAL WHERE IS SEAL?
Alejandro: Somewhere special.
Tara: I hate you. I HATE YOU. Tell me where he is right now.
Alejandro: Oh, just guess.
Tara: OH MY GOD. If Seal is in New Jersey, I WILL KILL YOU. Do you hear me??? I will come there and kill you.


Luckily, Seal was not all the way in New Jersey. He was hidden on a top shelf next to my Swiffer (and now he smells a lot cleaner than he used to). It was the closest call yet. I don't know what I would do if Seal was all the way in a different state from me. I'm going to sleep with him forever and I don't care what my future husband has to say about it.

<3tara