Brady and B

My first Christmas I received a teddy bear from my dad.  He’s not a handsome bear, but he’s mine.   We’re celebrating our 71st Christmas this year.   While he remains in Michigan, I am writing about him in Florida.   Distance doesn’t change anything.

I expect that I played with him when we were very young.   The only verification that we spent time together in our youth is this picture.  I believe that we were about the same age.  He’s aged better than me and doesn’t look much different today.   He has the same pug nosed face.  His arms, legs, and neck can spin completely around.  He’s maintained his youthful flexibility but doesn’t get out much any more.  He may have shrunk a bit and I don’t believe that he ever bathed.

I bathe every day.  Perhaps that’s why I have wrinkled skin and he doesn’t.

When each of my children was born, I bought a teddy bear for their first Christmas.  David’s has a look similar to mine, Elizabeth received a blonde bear with a bit of a shaggy look, and Michael’s resembled the movie star, Winnie the Pooh.  David’s bear moved north with him to his family cottage at Twin Lake.   I believe that Elizabeth’s and Michael’s bears may be runaways as I haven’t seen them in many years.

I didn’t name my bear and I don’t believe that David, Elizabeth or Michael named theirs either.

When I was the elementary school principal in Addison, I was invited into a third grade  classroom to read a story.   “Ira Sleeps Over”  instantly became my favorite children’s book.   I read it to hundreds of students over the years.  Each time I read it, I brought my bear to school, and shared it with the students.  I told them that my dad had given it to me on my first Christmas.   I also shared that I had purchased a bear for my own three children for each of their first Christmases.

My grandson, Brady, celebrated his first Christmas thirteen years ago.  I bought him a bear and he named it B.   When Eva was born, I bought her a bear as well.  B became an integral part of Brady’s life.  After a while, Eva’s bear went off to live with Elizabeth’s and Michael’s.

B is from Las Vegas.  I’m not sure if he was born there, but that’s where Ruth found him.  He’s a polar bear and the first polar bear that we welcomed to our family.  The only one for that matter.  This picture of Brady, B, and BZ (AKA Elizabeth) sums up Brady’s introduction to B pretty well.   It was love at first sight.

Of the three, BZ has changed the least.   Brady has grown taller and more handsome.  B is another story.  He’s lived a tough life.  He’s been slept on, puked on, peed on, and maybe pooped on.   He’s been through the wash several times and has had to be sewn back together on more than one occasion.  He’s traveled in back packs and suitcases,  been slung over shoulders,  drug from room to room, ridden in cars, traveled on airplanes, and all in all live a great, but exhausting, life.

Brady and B were constant companions.  You never saw one without the other.  Brady took B everywhere.  They went from room to room together, visited friends and family  in tandem, and spent the night at grandparents together.

One time Brady made a last minute trip to spend the night with Ruth and me.  As it became time for bed, Brady realized that B had been left behind.  He panicked.   He wasn’t concerned for himself, but he worried about B.  We decided we would call his dad.  Dad promised that he would look after B, make sure that he had plenty to eat, and put him to bed on time.  That’s one of the few times during Brady’s first several years that he didn’t sleep with B.

I wanted Brady to like his bear and value it as much as I value mine.  He exceeded my expectations.  B took on a persona supplied by Brady.  He turned out to be a loyal companion for a very special baby boy who has grown to become a wonderful young man.  My hope is, should there be a son or daughter in Brady’s future, that he purchase a bear for his child’s first Christmas as I purchased one for him.  I believe that it’s a tradition worth sharing.