TheBanyanTree: RAG, TAG, AND BUDDY JOE

[Sharon Mack]

My youngest Grandson, though nine years old, lost his beloved blankies
while on a trip to New York with his father.  His mother had warned him
not to take them but he had insisted because he was afraid he would not
be able to sleep in the hotel in a strange bed.  He, sadly, forgot the
blankies in New York and, though a phone call was made, they were gone. 
It broke his heart.  He was horrified that his beloved blankies might
have been put into the trash.  His mother asked me to write a story to
comfort him a bit.  This is the story that I wrote this morning for
Gage, my grandson.


RAG, TAG, AND BUDDY JOE
(a telling by Grandma Mack)

Once upon a time there were three blankies, Rag, Tag and Buddy Joe.
They disguised themselves as diapers so that only the very smart would
know who they really were.  They knew that if they were discovered that
they would be with just the right child and they would be able to spend
their "blankie" lives happy as bugs in a rug...warm and cuddled and
absolutely loved.

Rag was the leader.  While they waited in their diaper package to be
bought by their magical family he would tell stories to the other
potential blankies to see who was listening.  Tag was the first one to
perk up and listen to his stories.  Tag wanted to be loved by a child
and to learn to snuggle.  He asked Rag a lot of questions.  He wanted to
know about this special baby that would keep them and love them.  The
other diapers poohed-poohed Rag and Tag and told them they were crazy to
want such things.  There were REAL blankies for babies and they would
get the jobs of comforting children, NOT diapers.  Buddy Joe would
pretend not to listen, but he just couldn't help himself.  The stories
were wonderful and he secretly longed to believe in them.

Then one very special day it happened...just like Rag said it would.  A
blonde girl came in.  She had a huge tummy.  Rag told the diapers that
this as "it."  They would be bought for sure.  She was going to have a
baby.  That's why her tummy was soooooo big!  The other diapers
couldn't help but hope he was right.  Suddenly they were lifted from
the shelf and put in a moving cart. The ride was a short one and they
could feel the movement as they rode through the store.  As they rode
the conveyor belt to be checked through the cash register the sounds
excited them.  They could hear all the voices of the shoppers clearly
and they loved being bounced from place to place.  They knew they were
going somewhere at last to be a part of a new baby's life.  Even
Cynnie, the most cynical of the diapers had to admit it was quite the
adventure.

Once they were brought to the house where they would live, they were
placed once more on a shelf.  Everyone was silent for a very long time. 
They didn't know what was happening and why they were back on a shelf.
 They waited and they waited.

After several months things began to change.  They were taken out of
their wrapper at last and placed with a lot of other new diapers in a
drawer in the changing table.  The blonde girl was even bigger now and
she hummed all the time while setting the room just right.

"The baby's coming, I just know it," Rag whispered.  Tag nodded in
excitement and squiggled in his pile so much that they became
disarrayed.  The blonde girl came and straightened them out.  Tag liked
the feel of her warm, soft hands.  This baby was going to be one lucky
baby!

And then at long last it happened.  The baby came home.  It was a boy. 
A boy named Gage.  "Terrific name," they all agreed and immediately they
were put to work covering the baby's bottom.  He wiggled and squirmed
and ate and slept and cried and cooed.  All the diapers thought that
their baby was the greatest in the land.  They loved being with him and
couldn't wait until it was their turn to serve.

As the baby grew, some diapers were pulled from the pile and used
beneath the small child's chin to catch his milk as he drank. 
Everyone liked this job best and if they were lucky they were put to bed
with the child and allowed to sleep with him.  Rag, Tag and Buddy Joe
loved this the best and sometimes at night would trade places with one
of the other diapers in the hopes that they would be chosen for this
job.  Buddy Joe became a believer overnight.  Once when he came back
from his first trip to night-night with the boy he cried.  He had had
such a good time and had at last learned cuddling.  The baby had
snuggled him that night.  "It was W-O-N-D-E-R-F-U-L!"  he had said
ecstatically.

As the baby, Gage, grew, the Mommy (that was what the blonde girl was
called) came to choose the three believers more and more.  Soon they
were the ones that the baby himself was choosing.  Rag was definitely
the favored blankie, but Tag ran a close second with Buddy Joe the
runner up.  The diapers now were officially designated, "blankies." 
They were very proud and now all the diapers in the cupboards and
drawers were believers.

Cynnie was sure that Rag, Tag and Buddy Joe's luck at being a blankie
would change soon.  "It won't last forever," she warned them. 
"He'll grow up and tire of you.  He'll want games and toys and
then there's that thing they call school.  He'll drop you then for
sure."

But the three little blankies didn't care.  They would hang as long
as he wanted them.  They couldn't worry about the future.  It was the
now that was important.  They wanted to enjoy every minute that they
could with Gage.

Sometimes, as Gage grew, he would go away for the night.  If the
blankies were lucky they would be taken with him.  Sometimes he took one
(Rag was his favorite), but sometimes he would choose one of the others.
 The best trips of all were the ones where he took all three.  That was
the way it was when he took them to New York.  It was the most exciting
adventure they would ever have.  They watched and hoped as the suitcases
were being packed, and sure enough, they got in.

The blankies by now were nine years old, and for a blankie that can be
really old.  Rag was really feeling his age now and had lost a lot of
weight.  Gage didn't seem to mind.  He loved him best anyway.  Tag and
Buddy Joe were feeling their age, too, but not quite as badly as Rag. 
They began to hear stories of other blankies who had been retired.  Some
were believed to have gone on to blankie heaven.  It was said that this
is where they waited with the puppies and the kitties to be reunited
with their loved ones.  Rag, Tag and Buddy Joe weren't sure they
believed these tales at first, but as time went on, the biggest God of
all sent an angel to them while they slept and told them to believe,
that it was so.  Ever since then, they didn't worry about their age. 
They knew that no matter what, one-day they would be in the
'forever' place with their beloved Gage.

That's what the blankies talked about while they traveled to New
York.  Rag especially knew his time was short.  They decided that
whatever happened, they would stick together and if Rag were to leave,
the others would go with him to await Gage in the forever place.

The trip was wonderful.  Gage was the happiest they'd ever seen him. 
He loved being in New York with his Dad, and he never once went to bed
without his beloved blankies.  It was quite a trip but when it came to
the end Rag knew in his blankie of hearts that he would not be able to
return to the job he loved so much.  He cried the last night he spent
with Gage and wished he could tell him all he knew about blankie heaven
and the angels, but the angels said Gage would be told later by his
Grandma and not to worry.

As the dawn began to appear pink in the sky the angel whispered three
names.  "Rag, Tag, Buddy Joe.  It is time to go."  She lifted them up
into her arms and before they knew it they were looking down at their
sleeping boy through the clouds.  They were amazed at how much he had
grown.  He wasn't their baby anymore but a full sized boy and they
knew...they knew as sure as the wind and the sun that he would be just
fine.