Eat Your Hearts Out, Buzz and Woody!

 This week is the 28th birthday of (drum roll) BIRTHDAY BEAR!!!!  And there is quite the celebration to be had!

We didn't know when he joined our family that he would have such staying ability.  Honestly, he was an impulse buy.  I was wandering through Jewel grocery store in the days leading up to Court's birthday when bear's fuzzy little nose and hat emblazoned "I'm 4!" caught my eye.  I could say I set him gently in the cart so as to give him a good home, but I'm sure that is giving me way too much credit.  He probably shared a plastic bag with the ketchup and frozen peas.  Court, though, fell in love the Birthday Bear immediately!  He was a constant companion and my shut-eye-savior.

Fast forward a couple of decades when this Mom was packing up a room for her baby who no longer resembled a baby in the least.  I just couldn't part with such a loyal companion.  No, he didn't return to the condiment and frozen veggies from which he sprang.  Instead, he found a box, surrounded by other mementos of an era:  a Cub Scout flag, a soccer trophy, a various decorations that once hung proudly in a little boy's bedroom.  And there Birthday Bear patiently waited.

As luck would have it, this Granma recently decided it was time to clean out the crawl space.  Wading through boxes and pictures and tokens of bygone eras, I came across our little friend.  His nose isn't plush anymore and his shirt isn't white.  His once blue pom-pom is fading to grey (I can relate - to the grey, not the blue).  I piece of me, roughly 37%, asked why hang on to this grocery store ghost of galas gone past.  63% of me couldn't bear to put the bear out to pasture.

Sometimes it's a good thing to be a sentimental sap.  I reunited bear and best friend.  The instant Court saw his faithful companion again, it was like turning back the clock to 4 again.  "It's Birthday Bear!  Look, Adian, this was Daddy's friend when I was your age!"

I haven't asked him, but I'm sure Birthday Bear would agree that it was worth the wait for another generation of bedtime snuggles and secrets.  He is a wizened little bear - 28 years and growing younger by the day, thanks to the love of another little boy who bears a striking resemblance to the original.

Happy Birthday, Bear!  And Happy Birthday, Court!

Dreams do come true, Woody!  Here's the proof!