Eva Marie and Me

I’m that neighbor. The one just now putting away my Christmas decorations. I usually start the taking down process around Epiphany. Unlike the Wise Men, I don’t find the Baby Jesus. I find that Christmas was over three weeks ago and a brand new year has started.

I’m also a hoarder. I was folding away all those gift bags to use again next year. I discovered one I had forgotten about from a friend. This friend always gives me unusual gifts.  I imagine her moving through a store until she finds something she can weave a good story around. I had already knocked out the Bailey’s Irish Cream that was in the bag at a tailgate a few weeks earlier.

Something else was left in the bag. An Eva Marie action figure. I can’t remember the story my friend had told about the WWE doll, but Eva Marie would go beside the Mr. Potato Head and Underdog bobble heads from Christmases past. I adjusted the figure's movable joints to sit on my shelf. She looked exactly like something out that children’s book, Elf on a Shelf; the story that describes how Santa's "scout elves" hide in people's homes to watch over events and report back to Santa who’s naughty and nice. 

Without knowing it, my friend had given me an accountability partner that would stay up year around. My little action figure reminds me to move every day. Do something whether it's running, strength training, or getting up and away from my work desk. Just move. I may never rock the abs, tatts, or bikini, but Eva Marie reminds me I can be an action figure every day.Underdog just makes me smile.

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