I’m still not totally clear on where Ambrose came from. He is a self-described “friendless nerd.” I did unearth an old diary of mine that helped answer some of the mystery. This is a quote from that diary, written at age 12:
“I’ve just moved to London Ontario about three months ago. I don’t have any friends. Oh well, I don’t mind. My cat’s a friend, and so’s my doll, Raggedy Anne. She’s real to me. I have lots of stuffed animals. I have sea monkeys but they’re not fully grown yet. I take piano lessons. I don’t have a dad. My cat’s name is Mississippi.”
Mystery partially solved. I also love Scrabble, though I could never play competitively like Ambrose does!