indiana territory

COLLECTING TEDDY BEARS

My first teddy bear was one my father named Beezlebub and the second was one my Aunt Dorothy sent me that my father names Brownie. It seems my father - normally a creative person - did have have his run-of-the-mill moments.

Then I took it in my head in my teenage years to adopt a Raggedy Ann who took on a rather unique personality and who also became good friends with one of my summer roommates - Suzi Wolff of of Long Beach, Indiana. If I were to say "with two f's" to anyone who knew us then, they would immediately be reminded of Suzi.

But I get off-track here. This is about teddy bears. During the last few years, I have started adopting them . . . because I can't get past the fact that they are just furry material and stuffing. Their little eyes grab my heart strings and tug.

Right now one is looking at me from across the den. He does not have a name yet and, in fact, he is not mine. He belongs to my daughter-in-law, Alison, who is a nurse out at Parkview Noble. It seems Teddy Bear Syndrome is contagious.

I think all these bears have stories and I also think that one by one I'll tell them. It may take a little while to get some of the bears to open up - although the ones with the strings in their backs do seem fairly outgoing.

One polar bear tells me at birth he was no bigger than a chipmunk. He was a gift from someone who got him through the Discovery Channel, so you would expect him to be educational.

posted by Jody @ 1:36 PM