Yesterday I reached up on top of the wardrobe cupboard in our bedroom to grab a quilt and my old teddy bear tumbled down. Picking him up, dusting him off a bit....and remembering. Somewhere I knew I had a picture of me as a toddler with this bear. Digging through a box and there is was, proof positive that my teddy bear is almost as old as I am. My mom probably took the snapshot and I was probably about 18 months old? There he sits, fresh and new.....right next to a stuffed monkey.
I don't have many memories of actually playing with the bear, but somewhere along the line he got a very fancy name. He's always been Randolf Jeremiah! I wonder where that came from?? I'm sure during my growing-up years he was tossed into toy boxes, sat on my bed, was forgotten for awhile in a box somewhere. But Randolf Jeremiah hung on....and stayed with me.
He even went to college. For four years he shared my dorm room at Ripon. I'm not sure why I brought him, but I did.....every year.
And now he sits on top of the cupboard in our bedroom. Certainly a bit worn and threadbare in a few places. But he still looks like himself.....soft, cuddly, bright button eyes watching. Randolf Jeremiah I'm glad I kept you.....through all the moves, the houses, the years of raising children and working and now retirement. A stuffed and steady presence.....a warm memory.
Presenting Randolf Jeremiah.......in all his well-worn glory.
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