Frenchie and Robin

Waiting patiently for the next flea market,   I have been thinking about how my love affair with junk and design got started. I  grew up in a small town in the Midwest which I like to call my 1919 Bruning Dr. years. We were the typical nuclear family, mother, father, 3 sisters and 1 brother all living in an 1100 sq ft. 3 bedroom, 1 bath house. I shared my room with my sister, Vicki.  But since I was the oldest and forgot I was not an only child, I decided to take over and design the room to my liking. I was about 10 years old at the time and was obsessed with anything on TV.  Batman and Robin were big back then and I had an outrageous crush on Robin. I mean outrageous! We had twin beds and after devouring the Sears catalog, I begged my mom to buy us matching pink chenille bedspreads.  We got them right before Christmas and our presents that year were two matching, rather large royal blue and hot pink stuffed French Poodles. I was so excited that I spent the most part of Christmas making the beds and arranging the poodles so that they would be sitting perfectly on top of our new chenille bedspreads. Every morning I would wake up, make the beds and place  our new bedroom accessories with care on our beds. I named my poodle Frenchie and Vicki named hers Peanut. I spent hours brushing Frenchie's hair and even though I had passed the imaginary friend days, I talked to Frenchie as though she was my best friend. During those discussions I told her about my love for Robin. I had all of the Teen Beat magazines and cut out all of Robins (also known as Burt Ward)  pictures and put them in a file under my bed. Being the oldest, I was often teased about growing up so  I did not want my mom and dad to find out about my obsession. But one day I was at our local dime store  and there in the toy section were Batman and Robin cards. I counted my coins and after figuring out I had enough money to buy one set, I was on my way home with the love of my life. Now, I did think that Batman was cute, but Robin had my heart. As soon as I got home, I went to my mom's sewing kit and got our her straight pins. Standing on my pink chenille bedspread with Frenchie looking up at me I proceeded to pin all of Robin cards on the wall. I made the perfect collage and was excited to see that my room had taken on a new look. In my mind it was adorable and I felt closer to Robin that ever. I still took care of Frenchie but I did always give Robin an extra smile. My room was only missing one thing......a picture of Kurt Russell on my bedside table that  I found a few months later. As for Vicki's side of the room, thank God I fell in love with Wally Cleaver !