For the Love of Domo

Lauren absolutely and unequivocally loved Domo. For those of you who are unfamiliar with who Domo is allow me to explain. Domo is the official mascot of Japan's public broadcaster NHK, appearing in several 30-second stop-motion interstitial sketches shown as station identification during shows. Domo first appeared in short stop-motion sketches on December 22, 1998 to mark the 10th anniversary of NHK's satellite broadcasting. The name ¨Domo¨ was acquired during the second episode of his show in which a TV announcer said ¨domo konnichiwa¨ which is a greeting that can be translated as ¨Well, hello there!¨
This little character is a brown rectangle with an open mouth, jagged tooth grin and two little black beady eyes. I remember the first time Lauren showed one to me I asked it it was a piece of poop....with teeth. ¨Isn't he the cutest mom?¨ she inquired. Uh...sure.This love affair only grew with time. Lauren had Domo dolls, Domo hats, Domo backpacks, a Domo change purse (now this is in my purse with her school ID inside), Domo stickers and anything else she could find.
Kevin and I took the girls on a vacation to North Georgia during Christmas break a couple of years ago. Of course Lauren brought along several Domos. She had a blast posing her Domo at various locations during our family road trip. She held him up to the window of the car and snapped pictures of the scenery going by quickly in order to make Domo appear to be flying.
Lauren's dorm room was decked out in Domos. When we went to pack up all of her things after the accident we discovered she had created a Domo den under her beds. Kevin crawled under and handed out Domo after Domo for me to pack. It was her little sanctuary I suppose.
Her love for Domo eventually led to her making the ultimate permanent tribute...a tattoo. That's right, you read it correctly, my child had a Domo tattoo. She designed it herself. I was totally flabbergasted when she showed me. ¨Lauren...really? You know you might not always like Domo. It is probably just a phase.¨ I implored. ¨Awww mom, I'll love Domo forever.¨.....¨You will now!¨
I still think it looks like a piece of poop.