Tell me what you think.

Many of you know that Lilly lost her very best friend recently. She has had Froggy with her since she was born. He went everywhere with her, slept with her, ate with her, was thrown in the toilet twice by her. She left him somewhere, we think at a store, and he is gone. She asks about him everyday. There is sadness when she talks about him. She'll say, "I really want Froggy O'Froggy," with a pleading in her eyes. I'll say, "I know. I miss him, too." She'll reply, "He's gone though. He's all gone," and then she'll hang her head. But, then she moves on. She has other snugglies that she holds. None have taken his place. She rotates. One day it will be her little tiny kitty, "Puppy". Another day, "Cap" and "Captain", two little dogs, will accompany her. (Side note: one day she told us their names were "Who let the dogs out" and other times they are known as "Betty" & "Bill". We think they may be in the witness protection program.) Anyway, we had good friends that tried to find a replacement "Froggy" for us. Some of you (Char) even found THE actual look-alike. And some of you (Jen) placed a bid on said look-alike! You are good friends and Lilly will love hearing how many people worried about her and her very real loss. We decided that she was doing well enough that we didn't need to buy a replacement. Instead, I commissioned an artist all the way across the country, to paint this portrait of Lilly and Froggy. Together. I thought Lilly might like seeing him with her again. The artist, Jennifer Maher, did a great job, especially when you take into account she only had two photos that showed Froggy pretty well. When I went to send her photos I hadn't realized how few photos I have of Lilly with Frog...at least where you can see him pretty well.  I think she did a wonderful job. Tell me what you think. I'd love to hear. I'm excited for Lilly to see it. I'll tell you how she feels about it. 

If you would like to see more of Jennifer's amazing art work, check her website out. "Customtoyportrait.com"

Update: Lilly just woke up from her nap. I turned the painting around for her to see and this big, beautiful smile crept across her face. Then, without saying a word, she fell onto my lap with a hug. It was sweet. She loves it! After looking at it for a minute, she said, "We've gotta find him. I miss him."