i’m a sucker for nostalgia. maybe you’ve picked up on that? and now that jovie’s getting older, and around the age that THEYsay she’ll be choosing a “lovey”, i’ve been thinking of my own. growing up i had 3 that i remember.
i grew up in columbia, SC- home of the gamecocks. my whole family (like a zillion) were fans of the gamecocks. except my brother, kenny (him again). he was a fan of the big rival- clemson tigers. of course being the youngest, and a girl… i never cared about football. i always “rooted” for the gamecocks as much as saying “yay” can be called “rooting”. still, growing up i always wanted USC to win. it didn’t make sense not to, since i lived in columbia.
one year, i had gotten a tiger-shaped stuffed animal pillow. of course i had no idea what to name him, so i used all of my brain power and named him Clemson. i slept with him nightly. although admittedly, i don’t think i had him for very long. i’m not sure what happened to him, but i don’t have very many memories of him when i was older.
interestingly enough, i grew up and graduated from clemson. my family & friends were confused and would ask why i’d ever go there since i “hated” them so much. but i knew i wasn’t a great big fan, and i wasn’t going to let football determine what school i went to. i was the only freshman on “the hill” who would pull for the gamecocks instead of the tigers.
besides, why would i go to USC and live at home when i could go 2 hours away w/ my BFF? turned out to be a fantastic decision. i love the school. gorgeous campus, great education school, and- oh yeah- that’s where i met The Mr.
my freshman year, i became friends w/ a girl who lived on the 3rd floor, right below me. (what a fantastic view of the stadium i had—- didn’t care about football, but was very exciting to be a part of it all!) and how completely random that this girl from maryland had the exact same pillow!
i digress. recently this has been on my mind because i’m remembering some of my loveys from when i was little. recently, i took what memory i had of Clemson in my head & searched on google something like: “stuffed tiger pillow vintage” and the FIRST entry i came to was the exact one i was looking for! i was pretty amazed. (i’m not that great at googling).
after all this, i had to hunt for the one and only picture i thought i had of Clemson. so, here…. travel back to 1978 and see a very sleepy mpotter:
oh, and look! there’s coco! that’ll be another story…..
Great post Chelle. Now I remember Clemson. I do see Coco in the picture too. I hated that thing, I had to fold it just right while putting you to bed on my way out the door with a date, or friends. Coco sux!
oh oh Michelle am I in trouble because of coo coo LOL great story and I so do remember that picture as well. love you guys and so do miss ya