Sharing a Memory: Ted

When I was pregnant with Briana, my mom threw me a baby shower and invited the ladies from my home ward.  One of them--and I don't remember who it was--gave me a beautiful white plush teddy bear.  It had a music box in it which wound up on the back of the bear.  I put that bear in the crib, where it stayed during Breezy's infancy.

Briana became VERY attached to that bear, whose name became "Ted."  We took Ted everywhere.

When Bri was about 14 or 15 months old, we took a day trip to my uncle and aunt's home in Wyoming.  Our little one was very well-behaved that day, but the junk food she'd eaten did not sit well with her.  On the ride home, she vomited.  She was so sad, and her first words were, "Oh, no!  Ted!"  She cried and cried--she was so heartbroken because she's spoiled Ted.  We comforted her, cleaned everything up, and threw Ted in the washer as soon as we got home.  She was just tiny, but she kept asking if Ted was OK.  His music box never worked again, but Ted survived the washing--the first of many.

When Taylor was born, Briana was two.  She was old enough to carry Ted around herself, and he STILL went everywhere.  Several times, at church, I had to remind our two-year-old to put DOWN her dress.  But she had Ted's face up to her chest--she was nursing him.

Briana LOVED that bear!  It didn't take long before he wasn't white any more. The soft fabric of his nose disappeared.  He certainly wasn't soft.  He was hardly even fluffy! 

When Briana was 3, we went one day to Spencer's sister's home.  There was a small neighborhood park down the street, so Spencer's older niece took Bri and Whit to the park to play.  I told Breeze to leave Ted with me, but she was adamant that he wanted to play with them.  She came home without Ted.  I went with her to the park to retrieve her beloved bear.  Just a few days later, the same thing happened.  Our older niece found Ted buried in the sand (apparently he really did want to play), so she picked him up and brought him to me.  I decided that Bri was old enough to take responsibility for Ted, which, interpreted, meant that she had lost him.  So I hid him in the trunk so I could put him in the cedar chest before he really was lost.

We got about halfway home when Bri screeched from the back seat, "Ted!  I left him in the park!"  We responded that we did not have time to turn around.  We reminded her that he was her responsibility and she had not taken care of him, and we said we'd go back the next day to look for him.  She called Aunt Jenny as soon as we got home, but Aunt Jenny couldn't find him.  We went back to Jenny's the next day, but we couldn't find Ted.  Briana was absolutely heart-broken. 

Ted was safely in my cedar chest.

About a year ago (maybe a bit more), our girls wanted to go through the treasures in my cedar chest.  Ted was near the bottom.  Our grown-up daughter, who lived in Far-Away Logan, saw that bear and nearly went into tears.  She was so relieved to see that he was OK and that he was still around for her.  Then she got really mad at me and took that bear away from me.  :)

He is now safely in HER cedar chest, waiting for that girl to take him out and love him again whenever she's ready.  I'm glad we have Ted.