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Timothy - the best friend I never had
2 months ago
General
What does Timothy mean to me as an imaginary friend?
Well, gather round the fire and I'll try to elaborate.
Timothy came to be after I felt a wave of wistful nostalgia in my mid-teen years, watching the cartoon Timothy Goes To School. A lot had changed in my life, an intercontinental move at the age of twelve and a major move to another part of the UK six years before that. Both of which had delayed effects of making me feel deeply unsettled. I was never able to make friends the way other kids could. If I did make a friend, it was short-lived, with few exceptions.
The cartoon became a form of comfort, something adorable that awoke all sorts of feelings in relation to my complicated childhood. Even now when I watch it, I feel something just as deep. A wistful yearning that I'd had a friend just as loyal, kind, and friendly as Timothy when I was a kid.
Time goes on, and with it things change. But Timothy is a constant that never changes. An anchor of safety in a turbulent world where friendships end over the silliest reasons, or sometimes for no reason at all.
And all I can do is try my best to share that, to connect with others in a way I never could when I was younger.
Well, gather round the fire and I'll try to elaborate.
Timothy came to be after I felt a wave of wistful nostalgia in my mid-teen years, watching the cartoon Timothy Goes To School. A lot had changed in my life, an intercontinental move at the age of twelve and a major move to another part of the UK six years before that. Both of which had delayed effects of making me feel deeply unsettled. I was never able to make friends the way other kids could. If I did make a friend, it was short-lived, with few exceptions.
The cartoon became a form of comfort, something adorable that awoke all sorts of feelings in relation to my complicated childhood. Even now when I watch it, I feel something just as deep. A wistful yearning that I'd had a friend just as loyal, kind, and friendly as Timothy when I was a kid.
Time goes on, and with it things change. But Timothy is a constant that never changes. An anchor of safety in a turbulent world where friendships end over the silliest reasons, or sometimes for no reason at all.
And all I can do is try my best to share that, to connect with others in a way I never could when I was younger.
In 2004 things started to change for the better, but then came the intercontinental move and another 9 months until we settled somewhere permanently. By then, making friends my own age was pretty much impossible.