At age 5 I knew I had received a very special gift from Mommy and Daddy, my very first Barbie. Shortly thereafter, Ken followed. Of course I immediately removed them from their "Mint" box condition, playing with them faithfully on a daily basis. I remember my "older" friend down the street had the ponytail Barbie with the black and white swim suit. What a fond memory playing with our Barbies. I loved my wonderful Barbie in her red swim suit and in all of her wonderful outfits, many of which I still have today. My Barbie will be 50 in 2012.

Today, I have a special shelf in my curio just for that Barbie and Ken in wedding attire.

Barbie remains the largest quantity of any one type of doll among my diverse collection of dolls.