My Best Loved Bears

There are two bears in my house...a Boo Bear and a Monkey Bear. I take a great risk in writing this, because my teen does not appreciate me using her childhood nickname, and with proper reason. She is grown now, and mature, and for the most part I can treat her like the beautiful young adult that she is. Except this once.

You see, my older bear has an assignment for her worldview class that requires her to read a children's book aloud. So tonight we got the big bin of books out of the attic that she and the boys have outgrown and that we are saving for Emma. That bin holds more memories for me than just about anything else in this house. We have spent hours and hours with those books over the years. There are so many favorite stories and so many happy memories of time spent reading together. Hannah came down the stairs tonight with one book that was extra special. It was Buzzard's favorite book, and he read it to her dozens of times when she was little, always using the most entertaining, funny voices.

The Best Loved Bear is the story of Toby, a teddy bear who wins a contest because he is the most loved bear of all. The best part of the story is when Toby gets a "sticking plaster" to patch up a particularly well loved spot.

Buzzard paged through the book tonight, and Emma crawled right out of my arms and into his lap. Hannah leaned in. It was all very spontaneous.....and perfect. Before I knew it, my Man was reading the story aloud for the very first time to his Monkey Bear....and for the eight millionth to his Boo Bear. And everything was right with my universe. The boys were already upstairs in bed, but I wished so much they would have been with us on the couch too.

I know they grow and mature, and it is a joy to witness that. But in the privacy of my heart, and just this once on the blog, they are forever my bears. No matter how old they are. My very Best Loved bears.