thedrifter
08-18-07, 07:25 AM
HUG A HERO Something to hold tight to Dolls help kids deal with deployments AMERICAN-MADE BEATING THE BLUES
Local Marine wives created 'Daddy Dolls' so their children would have something to hold while their fathers were deployed
Date published: 8/18/2007
By CATHY DYSON
http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/082007/08182007/lo0818DaddyDolls1pc.jpg
Elena Dyal, 6, holds a doll bearing a picture of her father, Marine Maj. Justin Dyal. Elena's mother, Tricia, co-founded the company that makes the dolls, more than 8,000 of which have been shipped all over the world.
Maj. Justin Dyal has heard horror stories about homecomings--soldiers and fellow Marines deployed for so long, their young children didn't recognize them when they got back.
Thankfully for Dyal, who lives in Stafford County, that didn't happen when he returned from Iraq last year. His baby daughter woke up when he walked into her room, dressed in his cammies.
Elissa looked at him, then at the doll she cuddled that bore his picture--the doll she'd been clutching since he'd been gone.
She held out her arms and said, "Daddy."
His heart melted.
"These dolls are magic," Dyal said.
He is referring to "Daddy Dolls," created two years ago by his wife, Tricia, and Nikki Darnell.
At the time, Justin Dyal and Capt. Chad Darnell were at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Now, they're both at Quantico Marine Corps Base.
The Dyals live in North Stafford, the Darnells in Fredericksburg.
Since the women started the company, they've sold more than 8,000 dolls to families across the globe. They get 12 to 15 orders a day.
Tricia Dyal came up with the idea when her husband went on his fourth deployment in five years. Two weeks after he left, his daughters came down with a virus and were hospitalized for four days.
The girls, Elena and Elissa, now 6 and 3, had pictures of their father which were getting saturated with tears. Tricia Dyal thought they needed something more tangible to hold.
She sent pictures to her aunt and asked if she could turn them into a doll of the girls' daddy.
The first version was more like a stuffed quilt in the shape of a person. The daddy's head was stitched to his neck, and his stomach pieced to his lower body.
The girls didn't care.
"Everything was all better because Daddy was there," Tricia Dyal said.
Dyal ended up making dolls for kids in the hospital beds next to her daughters' and the idea snowballed.
The dolls have gone through several upgrades.
At one point, the images were printed on fabric that had to be soaked in water, then hung up for 24 hours.
"You'd walk into my bedroom, and there'd be pictures of all these guys lined up," Tricia Dyal joked. "I never slept with so many Marines in one room."
These days, the dolls feature a full-length color picture of a military person. Originally called "Daddy Dolls," they now are packaged as "Hug-a-Hero" because they're meant to honor anyone who's missed--be it Mom, Dad, grandparent or friend.
The dolls can be printed with a name and can include a 10-second voice recorder.
They come in two sizes, 12 and 17 inches, and cost $21.95 to $27.95.
The best part about them, according to Nikki Darnell, is that they can be tossed into the washer.
And that's vital, given how much these dolls are used.
Cynthia Vissers bought one for her toddler, Jack, when her Marine husband was headed to Afghanistan. The doll fit in the diaper bag and went wherever Jack did.
"Oh my gosh, it was the best thing that we ever did," said Vissers, who lives in San Diego. "When my husband came home, it was as if he never left."
daddydolls.com Cathy Dyson: 540/374-5425
Email: cdyson@freelancestar.com
The Marine wives who created Daddy Dolls employ other military wives in four states to manufacture the dolls.
They could have the dolls made for pennies apiece if they shipped the work overseas.
"But we can't do that," said co-founder Tricia Dyal. "Our husbands are Marines. Their dolls can't come with a tag that says 'Made in China.'"
The Daddy Dolls Web site features tips on ways for military families to beat the separation blues. They include: KISS A DAY: Place a Hershey kiss in a jar for each day the father will be deployed, then let the child get a kiss a day. COUNTDOWN: Use a paper chain or some other method to count how many days until a loved one comes home. Some children write what they did that day on the chains and send them to the one deployed. DADDY BOX: Put a box near the front door and bedrooms so children can share whatever they want with Daddy, such as pictures from ball games, school awards or letters. The boxes get mailed when they're full. VICTORY GARDEN: Plant a flower bed of yellow flowers and make yellow-ribbon stakes and decorate with mini flags. MOVIE NIGHT: One mother buys a bag of popcorn for each week the father is deployed. On Saturday nights, the two daughters have a sleepover in their mother's room. They watch a movie together and count the popcorn bags left to see when Daddy will come home.
Ellie
Local Marine wives created 'Daddy Dolls' so their children would have something to hold while their fathers were deployed
Date published: 8/18/2007
By CATHY DYSON
http://www.fredericksburg.com/News/FLS/2007/082007/08182007/lo0818DaddyDolls1pc.jpg
Elena Dyal, 6, holds a doll bearing a picture of her father, Marine Maj. Justin Dyal. Elena's mother, Tricia, co-founded the company that makes the dolls, more than 8,000 of which have been shipped all over the world.
Maj. Justin Dyal has heard horror stories about homecomings--soldiers and fellow Marines deployed for so long, their young children didn't recognize them when they got back.
Thankfully for Dyal, who lives in Stafford County, that didn't happen when he returned from Iraq last year. His baby daughter woke up when he walked into her room, dressed in his cammies.
Elissa looked at him, then at the doll she cuddled that bore his picture--the doll she'd been clutching since he'd been gone.
She held out her arms and said, "Daddy."
His heart melted.
"These dolls are magic," Dyal said.
He is referring to "Daddy Dolls," created two years ago by his wife, Tricia, and Nikki Darnell.
At the time, Justin Dyal and Capt. Chad Darnell were at Camp Lejeune, N.C. Now, they're both at Quantico Marine Corps Base.
The Dyals live in North Stafford, the Darnells in Fredericksburg.
Since the women started the company, they've sold more than 8,000 dolls to families across the globe. They get 12 to 15 orders a day.
Tricia Dyal came up with the idea when her husband went on his fourth deployment in five years. Two weeks after he left, his daughters came down with a virus and were hospitalized for four days.
The girls, Elena and Elissa, now 6 and 3, had pictures of their father which were getting saturated with tears. Tricia Dyal thought they needed something more tangible to hold.
She sent pictures to her aunt and asked if she could turn them into a doll of the girls' daddy.
The first version was more like a stuffed quilt in the shape of a person. The daddy's head was stitched to his neck, and his stomach pieced to his lower body.
The girls didn't care.
"Everything was all better because Daddy was there," Tricia Dyal said.
Dyal ended up making dolls for kids in the hospital beds next to her daughters' and the idea snowballed.
The dolls have gone through several upgrades.
At one point, the images were printed on fabric that had to be soaked in water, then hung up for 24 hours.
"You'd walk into my bedroom, and there'd be pictures of all these guys lined up," Tricia Dyal joked. "I never slept with so many Marines in one room."
These days, the dolls feature a full-length color picture of a military person. Originally called "Daddy Dolls," they now are packaged as "Hug-a-Hero" because they're meant to honor anyone who's missed--be it Mom, Dad, grandparent or friend.
The dolls can be printed with a name and can include a 10-second voice recorder.
They come in two sizes, 12 and 17 inches, and cost $21.95 to $27.95.
The best part about them, according to Nikki Darnell, is that they can be tossed into the washer.
And that's vital, given how much these dolls are used.
Cynthia Vissers bought one for her toddler, Jack, when her Marine husband was headed to Afghanistan. The doll fit in the diaper bag and went wherever Jack did.
"Oh my gosh, it was the best thing that we ever did," said Vissers, who lives in San Diego. "When my husband came home, it was as if he never left."
daddydolls.com Cathy Dyson: 540/374-5425
Email: cdyson@freelancestar.com
The Marine wives who created Daddy Dolls employ other military wives in four states to manufacture the dolls.
They could have the dolls made for pennies apiece if they shipped the work overseas.
"But we can't do that," said co-founder Tricia Dyal. "Our husbands are Marines. Their dolls can't come with a tag that says 'Made in China.'"
The Daddy Dolls Web site features tips on ways for military families to beat the separation blues. They include: KISS A DAY: Place a Hershey kiss in a jar for each day the father will be deployed, then let the child get a kiss a day. COUNTDOWN: Use a paper chain or some other method to count how many days until a loved one comes home. Some children write what they did that day on the chains and send them to the one deployed. DADDY BOX: Put a box near the front door and bedrooms so children can share whatever they want with Daddy, such as pictures from ball games, school awards or letters. The boxes get mailed when they're full. VICTORY GARDEN: Plant a flower bed of yellow flowers and make yellow-ribbon stakes and decorate with mini flags. MOVIE NIGHT: One mother buys a bag of popcorn for each week the father is deployed. On Saturday nights, the two daughters have a sleepover in their mother's room. They watch a movie together and count the popcorn bags left to see when Daddy will come home.
Ellie