Bear

(Elliott at 4 months old)

As I am sure many of you can relate to, one of the many many special little jobs, that we, as moms perform is "surgery" on our children's beloved companions. With 4 little ones I can vouch for this with occasional requests for "Mommy, can you fix....?" This morning I had one of those very requests from Elliott. He came to me this morning with Bear in his hands saying..."Mom, Bear needs your help! He's falling apart, his beans are falling out and he has another hole in him...can you fix him?" Now, you have to understand Bear has been with Elliott since day one. I bought Bear for Elliott when I was pregnant with him and placed him in his crib long before Elliott was even born. Needless to say, it was love at first sight for Elliott and he and Bear have been best friends ever since. Bear has been there in good times and in bad, through scary thunderstorms, scraped knees, bad dreams and nasty colds. He has been through the wash more times than I could count and generally speaking, even now that Elliott is 9, where ever you find El, Bear isn't too far away.

However, over the years Bear has changed in his appearance. He's is no longer white, and he has not a bit of fur left on him. He has lost a ton of the little beans in his belly and he is not fluffy anymore. But he is no less loved! Elliott cannot fall asleep at night without him and he is a vital member of our family. 

This morning, once again I have to very gently and carefully perform "surgery" on bear to patch the next hole and try my best to keep him in one piece. This is no easy task, as bear is beyond thread bare and there isn't much to work with anymore. He is very fragile and needs lots of TLC. So, I will do my best to make tiny little stitches to hold bear together until I can't anymore. I have a feeling that bear will always be a part of Elliott's life and will go off to college with him and have a special place in his heart and home forever.

Dawn