This is a "heavy" story. A friend in Maine had gone blind from a brain tumor and did not have long to live. She had an old beloved dog named Tula. I thought I would make a sock puppet dog, rub it on Tula, then give it to my friend to keep at her side, sleep with, smell, etc. It wasn't all that practical, but clearly I was planning this for me, to give me something to do in this helpless, hopeless situation. So, I got a sock and a couple of buttons from her sewing box and a piece of rick rack from the old days.