But who will care for my dolls? Special guest post by Milady Blue

Another guest post by Milady Blue, who is recovering from data loss (among other losses) from the past week. In this thoughtful post, Blue addresses the concern of bequeathing dolls, and the sticky concern surrounding this issue.

But who will care for my dolls?by Milady Blue
Special guest writer

For the first time in my life, I was hit by bad luck on a Friday the 13th. My computer crashed. I used to put this down to superstition, since all Friday the 13ths I have lived through lacked any kind of calamity. No friends or family reported anything particularly sinister. In fact, I was beginning to wonder if it was something made up to sell tickets to horror movies.

While taking data from my last backup, which was in February, I decided to go through my bookmarks. I came across one link that made me sit up and take notice. It was a site for pet owners, giving estate planning advice to make sure one’s pets are cared for in the event of the owner’s death. Of course, we have all heard the cliché of the eccentric rich lady leaving her multi-million dollar fortune to her cat. But regular folks worry about beloved animals, too. Be it a cat, dog, hamster or whatever, they do not want the animal to be left to the mercy of an estate executor.

But it got me thinking--what about my dolls?



Before anyone calls a social worker, to ask for advice about the nutty woman who writes these entries, please understand that much of what I write has tongue firmly in cheek.

Many of us put in a lot of time, money and effort (well, mainly money) into our doll collections. We find a doll, or dolls, we like, and sometimes go overboard to get what we want. This represents a significant investment, and everyone likes to protect their collection.

But what happens if a collector dies, whether suddenly or the result of a long illness?

There is, of course, the option of a will, bequeathing money, property and family heirlooms. Not all people are so organized, however. In many cases, whoever was closest to the deceased simply goes through the person’s belongings and has a garage sale, or sells the stuff on eBay. I have seen a lot of dolls in estate sales on eBay, and I am shocked at how little the seller actually knows about those dolls.

Who buys the dolls? Will it be someone who genuinely appreciates the dolls, and treats them as a cherished part of his or her collection, or will it be a cynic who hopes to make more money off the resale of the collection, because he or she knows the actual market value?

That is not something I want happening to my dolls.

So, tongue in cheek, again, I more or less made out a will, and named specific people to inherit my dolls. I will have to hope my brother can get the data off the Friday the 13th afflicted drive, because I cannot remember to whom I bequeathed the dolls!

There are a few exceptions, which are pretty simple. One friend is utterly mad for redheaded dolls, so she gets all the redheads. Another is one who has threatened to simply come over and steal all the men. The other somewhat less complicated inheritances are namesake dolls. For example, I have a doll I named Nadia, after my friend in Russia, and she will get her namesake.

Leave it to me, of course, to complicate things considerably!

I like to make doll families, and want to make sure the families will stay together. So if one particular doll would go to the redhead enthusiast, so too would all of that doll’s relatives. Again, I know that they are dolls, and they can’t think or feel as we do. But Pixar has done its job too well, and again, I just don’t like the idea of separating families. On the other hand, true friends worthy of inheriting these dolls will know the stories created for these dolls, and want the whole family.

To quote a song of a few years back, “That’s my story and I’m stickin’ to it!”