Something changed

Bearnard arrived at my house in a box.  He was a stuffed teddy bear.  A very beautiful, very cuddly, very fuzzy bear with a big nose and two penetrating little eyes.

In the beginning he simply sat on my bed looking cute.  Then one night I had the urge to give him a book to read and I think that was when it all began.  Perhaps it was the book, an out of print copy of James Agee’s The Morning Watch, that caused him to change.  I kept watching him sitting there with it and realized a little voice in my head was telling me he much preferred Eric Carle’s Very Hungry Caterpillar. 

He looked so cute that I took his picture before changing the books, so perhaps it was the camera.  I’ve heard there is magic behind the lens of a camera.  Whatever it was, I began noticing that Bearnard is more than a big nosed stuffed bear.  He is a very nosy bear!

He gets into everything so I have to keep a close eye on him.  That means he often goes with me to one of my volunteer jobs, or to visit friends and I have gotten into the habit of taking his picture during those little visits.  After a while I realized that I had so many of those pictures it seemed I ought to do something with them, so I began sending them to my grandchildren, one at a time with a little story about what was going on. 

Bearnard gets into everything!  Nothing is safe from his big furry nose.

I used to have a dog, Chauncey, but he really didn’t do well in the apartment so he lives with my sister and her dog. I used to talk to Chauncey and sleep with him and ask his opinion about things.  He was a very small dog and I used to worry about rolling over on him at night.  Often I had the uneasy feeling that he needed more attention than I was giving him. 

Lately I have noticed that Bearnard has slipped quietly and easily into his place!  I sleep with him in the big bed in my apartment just like I did Chauncey.  I talk to him and ask his opinion about things and even get that uneasy feeling that he needs more attention than he’s getting.  I don’t, however, ever worry about rolling over on him! 

Bearnard seemed to be just a stuffed bear when he first came here, but not anymore.  Maybe it was the book, or the camera, or maybe it was because he was a Christmas bear and Christmas is full of magic; but whatever caused it…something changed!

Bearnard is no longer my stuffed bear.  He is my pet bear!