Lanikins and I are united by tragic stories of loss in our respective childhoods.  She lost her She-Ra to a bratty brother attack and rightfully gives him a hard time about this crime to this very day.

I mourned an entire She-Ra family of action figures (good guys and bad guys!) that was accidentally thrown away. I stored the crew in a plastic bag with their “wedding” regalia.  I “designed” these bridal party gowns using multicolored Kleenex and my grandmother mistook the heaps of colored facial tissue for trash.  The Crystal Castle, once buzzing with activity, stood empty and hollow. My wails of sadness were likely heard all the way in Eternia.

So nearly 30 years later, it warms my heart to see Lani passing along the joys of She-Ra to a new generation of powerful young princesses with the lessons learned: I have no doubt this She-Ra will not fall pray to bratty brothers, nor will she need to suffer the indignities of a Kleenex wedding dress. This particular plushie was made as an exchange with Padfoot, and it was destined for Padfoot’s daughter.  Lani does the cutting and sewing for all of her plushies sans pattern, because she is  a plushie making goddess. Most of her plushies are not for use as children’s toys, but she rose to this particular challenge by making a beautiful doll that is built to last. Just like the good ol’ Princess of Power herself.

As part of her process, she did watch a lot of She-Ra on Netflix, which sounds really fun. She is currently working on some Dr. Who’s (10 & 11) so I’m guessing she’s suffering through those Neflix marathons. What a trooper ;-)

• She-Ra: Princess of Power