Ro is four years old today.

Wow.. I just realized today is August 29th. Four years ago today, I was sitting on the steps outside of the apartment I lived in with my father and younger sister, waiting for an EMS package from Korea. Nick was in Great Lakes, at Basic Training for the Navy. I had a small pile of clothes, eyes, and wigs waiting for him, a rocking chair, some other odds and ends. I opened that box and loved him from the moment I saw him. He was perfect. He was MINE. He was my first doll, I ever wanted, that I got, and enjoyed.

Alot has happened in four years. I have 10 dolls now, most of which I got in late 2006 and 2007. Ro went from being my only, my favorite, to the one I can't play with. There's been alot of drama in regards to him. When I saw him next to other dolls after I moved to Virginia, I realized I wanted him on a more grown up body, and sold off his Dream of Doll body. I bought him a Dollmore boy body, which I had to restring first thing, and never posed well for me. He's still on it.

Brittany/Ti-Chan just about killed him as a character, completely hi-jacking his life, whether or not that was her intention. He went from being my smirky, smiley, boy version of me, to a whiny clingy man who did everything he could to please his partner, and adopted some kids (my Yo-SDs).

Now he's tucked away in my boxes, with Elli, waiting for me to get the courage to try and paint him again. To give him new life. To sell off that Dollmore body which is too thin and lanky for him, and get him a Dream of Doll body again. He's got awhile yet to wait, because I have to pay off some debts first, but one day.. One day my Tender Yen will be whole again, and loved again. I won't be afraid to play with him anymore.

Ro was my first, and I will never sell him. I will always love him, and even if his character moves to a new shell, I'll keep my very first boy doll.

Ball-jointed dolls bring me a joy I can't describe, and having Ro brought me happiness when I was at my worst. Looking at dolls kept me sane in South Texas when I lived with in-laws who hated me. Buying Ro kept me happy when I was worried and displaced in North Texas. All my dolls kept me sane (when in combination with my two best friends in the entire world) this past year, nearly two years at this point, when my whole life fell to pieces.

I'm happy that I have these dolls in my life, that I met my friends through this hobby.