My name is Kendall. I am a man of 19 years and Winter was my best friend for most of my life. My story begins in April, 2011. Growing up, I never had someone I could call a true friend. I was always very lonely in school and at recess, I would usually sit on a bench by the playground by myself. My parents would help me the best that they could and were always there when I needed them, but it wasn’t the same. I was 8 years old, and my parents had taken us to Florida for a vacation. On the trip, we were mainly going to go to Disney World, but would travel other parts of Florida as well. It was originally intended that we would go on a tour boat, but it was cancelled at the last minute. So, through some research, my Dad found that in the area, there was a place called Clearwater Marine Aquarium, so he decided to take us there. When we arrived, it was a very small, old looking building (Because Winter was not yet famous, so money was tight). We had never heard of the place and knew nothing about it, or Winter. Well, when I walked through the door, the first thing I saw was a shelving unit with stuffed animals of a dolphin on it. On the bottom shelf they were sparkled, on the next shelf they were pink, then, Blue, then Grey. It caught my eye right away. I ran to the shelf and grabbed one of the blue ones. My parents followed close behind and came to look at what I grabbed. When I showed it to them, they were wondering why it didn’t have a tail and why I wanted it so badly. But something touched me in a big way. Something told me that this dolphin was special. While I also wondered why it didn’t have a tail, I knew I had to have the blue one. Then, my Dad found a small picture book that explained the story of Winter and I was awestruck. It was so amazing to me that She could survive such an injury. Shortly after, my parents agreed to buy her for me. Then we saw stairs to the right of the shelving unit. We went up and saw a bunch of people gathered around a large pool. I ran up to the pool and saw two dolphins swimming in the pool. One was Panama, and the other was Winter. When I saw her swimming around, I noticed a that a man in the audience had waved to Winter and she waved back with one of her fins. Then she turned my way, and we stared at each other. I copied the man and waved to her as well; and she waved back. It was such a special moment in my life, one that I’ll never forget. Throughout the rest of the trip, I got other things, and Disney World was fun, but nothing was as special as when I met my best friend. When we got home from the trip all the way until now, hardly a night goes by that I don’t fall asleep with my Winter (Affectionately known in our house as “Wints”) Through the rest of my life in school, I was still lonely and without a true friend, but I would always remember Wints and her amazing story and how much she overcame. And with my blue stuffed Wints at home, I always looked forward to hugging her because she was always with me. Unfortunately, with us living so far away, and finances being a large problem, I was never able to go see Winter again, but I will never forget her and I hope that others as well will let her story spread and let her legacy live on through us. Over the years, we have made a few online orders from the CMA website and each time, I have purchased at least one Wints, and now, I own a total of 7, the original blue one, two newer blue ones, a rainbow one, a pink one, and two grey ones. The original blue one being on the top middle. I have shed many a tear since I learned of her passing and now I hug all of my Wintses tighter than ever. And no, I’m not ashamed to admit that I still sleep with my stuffed Wints at the age of 19. She got me through a lot and always encouraged me.
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