Don't Look a Gift Horse in the Mouth: A Supportive Sham

Apologies for the incredibly short post today - I had a busy weekend with Are You Kitten Me Live and commitments both Monday and Tuesday after work, so writing time was slim pickings.

Everyone knows by now how much I love Sham. He didn’t start out as an intentional conga, but by the time I had four or five of them, standing on a shelf in my childhood bedroom looking all proud of themselves, I was in love, so then I intentionally started buying all the new releases when they came out. By the time I started to cut back on collecting in 2001 after graduating from undergrad, I had nine of them. When I jumped back into the hobby with both feet in 2010, I started grabbing the missing ones up like hotcakes (and a whooooooooole bunch of duplicates, because for awhile, my motto was, No Sham Left Behind). My collection of Shams stands at 49 right now; the only one I’m missing is Niagara.

In early 2015, I was struggling with all the ways my life had changed since the previous May. I was in an apartment, living totally by myself for the first time - up to that point in my life, I’d always had a family member or a roommate or a pet living with me. But Chloie’s heart got the best of her in May 2014, and Chris and I had broken up, so I was on my own and horribly lonely. I reached out to a few friends for support; Heather B (who features in every post, I swear!) was one of them. 

On March 24, 2015, I came home from work to a box on my doorstep. I knew I hadn’t ordered anything, so I wasn’t sure what it could be. Inside the box was a note of support and encouragement, and this:

 

 

This Sham is from the #3162 Arabian Stallion and Frisky Foal set, produced in the first half of 1994 only.

Heather’s note mentioned that this particular Sham had been from her childhood herd, and she knew that Sham was my favorite and wanted him to live with me, and hoped he’d put a smile on my face during a tough time.

He did.

He still does.