the pig: a eulogy...???

The time has finally come.  The end of the pig.  Don't worry, it's also the beginning of  a new one! 

I originally posted about the pig here:

http://www.rebeccaanderic.blogspot.com/2010/04/day-in-life-of-whitneys-pig.html

just a few months after she received it for Christmas from Grammy and Grandpa Jamie.  

The best $5 they ever spent? I think yes.  

Not much has changed in Whitney's devotion to her piggy since that post. 

It has been her best friend and constant companion,

cuddled with her almost every night

It has had a major role in Katelyn and Whitney's imaginary play

and traveled everywhere with her.

It's so much a part of her life that it has snuck it's way into many pictures:

holding it as she fell asleep during Hairspray

chasing dad

decorating eggs

becoming techno-savvy

and reading Christmas stories.

Whitney's love for the pig has not changed, only grown, but the pig has certainly changed.  She is no longer plump, the stuffing is totally gone in her neck from Whitney carrying her around in the crook of her arm for 2 1/2 years.  Her fur is matted and so, so dirty.  She barely looks like a pig!

The pig has comforted and played with Whitney, it has been tied to things and dragged around behind things and it has absorbed many, many of her tears.  Eric and I as parents have survived multiple tantrums over a period of months when we would not let her take the pig to church.  We have had many a frantic search for the pig as we were headed out the door (late, probably) and she just had to bring it with her in the car.  We have had many a frustrated search for the pig at bedtime when we swear we have searched the whole house top to bottom and it's nowhere to be found- then it finally appears tucked under a blanket in some corner. And she's had many trips into our room in the middle of the night when she would lose the pig among her blankets and couldn't find it in the dark.

But for better or for worse, Eric and I knew Whitney loved that pig more than anything, and we love her more than anything, so it was worth it. 

However, over the last six months, the pig's appearance has really gone downhill.  (It is no coincidence that this corresponds with Owen's lifespan...) I mean, the pig is grossly dirty.  I haven't been as strict about watching to make sure the pig doesn't go outside- to the point where we can't even really claim that's a rule anymore.  The pig has slipped outside more and more often and been dragged around and set down on dirt and rocks way too much.  It has also started accompanying us places it was not allowed before, such as the grocery store, doctor's office, etc.  And thus, has become grayer and grayer.  The last time I washed it, the color didn't even change!  And that's when I knew the pig's days were numbered.  Amazingly we never had to stitch it up or anything- way to make a quality product Kohls!

So then the last couple of weeks I've heard Whitney and Katelyn talking about "when Whitney gets a new fluffy pig" and I thought "hmmm..." and then last week we were sitting around right before or after family scripture reading and they mentioned it.  So Eric looked on amazon and found one for only $10 and we decided this was our chance!!  We decided to get it if Whitney would pay for half.  

And then Eric and I started to get a little sad!

I mean, that pig has been so important to our little girl.  She's practically a member of the family.  And our little hoarder Whitney, surprisingly, was ready to just throw it away when the new one came!

Kate and Whitney came up with a plan, that the night the new one came, (good things always come at night, right??) Whit would leave her "dirty pig" on the floor, and the new one would be peeking out of the shirt drawer of her dresser when she woke up, and the old one would be gone.  Obviously we were going to go along with this painless plan!  

So yesterday the pig came.  We told her it "might" be the night.  I caught Eric looking fondly at the pig several times throughout the evening, surprisingly.  I am usually the sentimental one in our relationship!  But it became apparent that we could not throw that pig away.  It would be like throwing away part of our child!  I can't totally explain my affection for that pig.

Also, you never know, she might decide to freak out and want the old one back!  We all remember the disaster of Christmas 2011, when Whitney convinced us she didn't need to take the pig to California.  She could take a new smaller pig instead and leave "dirty pig" at home so nothing would happen to her.  We kept asking "are you sure?" but she was, and so we left.  Boy did we kick ourselves 2 hours later when she was sleepy and needed her favorite friend for a pillow.  Why on earth didn't we hide the pig in the trunk just in case??  Instead she cried heart-breakingly for an hour until we got to Kohls in St. George and bought her a new $5 temporary replacement, a kangaroo.   

So for sentimental and practical reasons, the old pig will be living in my cedar chest from now on.  Eric and I might even take it out and smile occasionally.  :)

Because we love our Whitney.  :)  

Piggy #1 lasted for 2 1/2 years, so we'll see how long Pig #2 lasts.  She's going to grow up a lot in the next couple of years, so we hope there will be no need for a Pig #3. :)

Her last night with the old pig.

 She was totally not worried about it at all, and Eric and I were almost in tears!  

 The new and the old!

 The transition was seamless, except for the part when she woke up at midnight crying because she couldn't find her pig and she was half asleep so she had forgotten about the plan for the new one!  We showed it to her and she was suddenly wide awake, alternately holding it at arms length to look at its pink brightness and hugging it tightly.  She's so happy with her new "fluffy pig".