Marie said: “In 1965, when I was nine, we lived in Netherlee, Outside Glasgow. My father spent time working in Minsk in Russia, and I remember him giving me a present one day: a Russian doll. She is a beautiful doll but thankfully I had already outgrown dolls, otherwise she would not be around today. She has a soft body and upper arms/legs while the rest is made of some harder material, and she is still wearing Russian-style clothing. Another favourite toy I remember was a dolls house that I was given when I was four, but that has been lost, probably in a house move.
Vasilisa has always stayed with me. She moved to Garlieston,D+G with me when I was halfway through S2, and helped me settle at Edinburgh University from 1973-1977. When I moved to Dalbeattie as a teacher in 1977 and then to Dumfries from 1978-1983, Vasilisa came too. We moved to Holywood outside Dumfries in 1983 and we are still there. I have now retired and I am planning to relocate to Edinburgh at Leopold Place, therefore I plan to bring Vasilisa to Leith Toy hospital for repair when necessary. My grandmother who lives in Prestonpans took her to the toy hospital recently so that her eyes could be mended; her lower arm also needs fixing. In the future, I plan to will Vasilisa to my granddaughter, Sylvia.