#FridayWithFriends Meet Jill...

Jill's Blog

Left, Jill and I on our last day in Colonial Williamsburg with our Moffats.

It's #FridayWithFriends and I thought today would be the perfect day to introduce my dear friend Jill.  Today's her birthday and I wish I could celebrate with her!

Jill and I met at the NEH Benjamin Franklin Institute in 2011.  It was the first one I ever attended. I can remember being quite fascinated by this teacher that taught at a museum school. It is a concept I am still very intrigued by.  As our time came to a close, we said our good-byes, connecting on Facebook. I then learned of her upcoming trip to James Madison's Montpelier.  She graciously accepted to host Moffat for her trip and the rest, as they say, is history.

To this day, she is one of Moffat's biggest champions.  Despite the multi-state difference that separates us, we reach out to each other regularly for professional support and advice. Our friendship began with a stuffed rabbit.  I love seeing the adventures she and her family participate in, with Moffat often tagging along.  I think it is best to have Jill sum it up.  The following is a post from her blog.



Here’s the thing…I carry around a bunny.

Yes, I am in my late 30’s.

Yes, it’s a stuffed bunny.

No, I don’t care what I look like with it.

Yes, my family is occasionally embarrassed by the bunny.

Yes, he’s kind of a part of my family.

His name is Moffat (think Flat Stanley, but way cooler). He’s met presidents and authors. He’s traveled the world. He is always a conversation starter. He has built friendships. He’s taught lessons. He’s opened the world for students and for the crazy adults that carry him around as only a stuffed bunny can do.

I figured that I better go ahead and introduce Moffat because chances are he will show up in my blog. He’s already the star of his own blog.

I met Moffat in 2011 at a National Endowment for the Humanities Institute on Benjamin Franklin in Philadelphia. When kindergarten teacher, Christy, introduced herself to all the participants on the first day she also introduced Moffat, explaining that Moffat was how she brought history and geography to her young students. “Everything is more exciting with a stuffed bunny in front of it.” I watched during the week as Christy posed him in front of buildings and with interpreters. Moffat became participant number 41 in our group of 40 teachers. I didn’t think much of it except that Moffat was an ingenious way to make history exciting to young children.

Fast forward to 2013 when Christy saw I was at James Madison’s Montpelier. She messaged me and asked if she could send Moffat my way. She didn’t have any pictures of him at Montpelier. I obliged. He arrived on the last day of my visit and was a hit with everyone. I found out the bunny was fun to have around. I posed him all around the estate and even took him to a Civil War camp the following day. I kept him as I returned to Florida so I could snap a few pictures of him in front of Castillo de San Marcos in St. Augustine. And, before I knew it, Moffat was a permanent fixture in my house and the one thing we never forget on a trip. The first few years we had Moffat my son happily carried him and posed with him. Now that he is middle school, he is too cool for all that.

​Moffat has made friends with me all over the United States. This little inanimate object has brought lots of people together. Check him out at http://www.moffatstravels.com/.