Wednesday, July 11, 2012

Not Just Another Teddy

Did you ever have a favorite teddy bear that you liked to sleep with as a child?  Those were the days, right?  Safe and comfortable and taken care of.  And then you grow up and leaving behind the safety and comfort of childhood.  That's what I thought and then... I was about 22 and had moved into my first apartment with my best friend from high school.  I won't dwell on how much of a mistake that was, but I moved out five months later.

In the meantime, I went to work every day and my roommate worked the night shift.  I was usually up until she left for work and gone before she got home in the morning.  Not enough sleep and poor eating habits led to my getting sick twice that summer.  Both times I was diagnosed with strep throat and both times I had different symptoms.  Let me just say that I went to what would today be referred to as "an old country doctor".  He had probably practiced in that same tiny little office for at least 40 years.  

He didn't do any tests or cultures.  You're supposed to get a culture for strep, right?  Nope!  The first time I just had a sore throat and otherwise didn't feel all that bad.  The next time my glands were swollen, and I had a fever - for a solid week.  I took antibiotics and aspirin around the clock for a solid week.  

Did I mention that my parents were on vacation a thousand miles away?  Or that my roommate had absolutely no sympathy for my situation?  "Aren't you going to work" she asked?  Duh!  I'm sick!  What do you think?

I began staying at my parents house even though they weren't there.  I drew comfort from just being home.  They were due back at the end of the week and I was literally counting the days.  I suppose you are wondering where teddy bears come into the picture.

I was there when they got home, and the first thing Mom did was hand me a teddy bear.  I instantly felt 100% better.  My fever went down and I felt better than I had over in a week.  It did go back up that evening, but I was so much better.  I slept with that teddy bear for a very long time after that, and I still have him.

Was it the bear?  Was it a mother's love?  I think it was both, and they were one in the same.  

7 comments:

  1. I never had a teddy that I loved or took to bed (thought my younger sister did), but I know what you mean about being sick while staying with a friend. I was once, and I got out of bed, bathed, scrawled a note and travelled back home to my parents, as soon as she left for work! I felt heaps better too.

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  2. I had a blue teddy bear that James would pretend to shoot to make me cry. I guess I really liked it. What I liked more was indeed Mom's love when I was sick. I got so much attention that it is a miracle I didn't turn out to be a hypochondriac
    -There is no way I spelled that right! Your story brought back lots of memories.

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  3. Babs- Moms are like that - they have that special magic that makes things better just by being there.

    Ashley- There are a lot of memories associated with this story for me. You came up and hung towels on the clothes line for me that I had washed while I was there.

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  4. I'm sure as a kid I had some sort of a stuffed animal, but not one I truly remember. Good post though. And quite the story. I hope you and the roommate have thrown differences aside as time has gone on?

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  5. Aw... I love this one. I had a stuffed donkey that I slept with well into my adult years. I never thought of it in the way you talk about it here, but maybe it was a way to hold onto my childhood as my mother died when I was just 23. Lovely piece.

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  6. P.J. - Thank you. That was a very special bear, indeed, and no I've only seen her a couple times since then. That's just the way of things sometimes.

    Jayne- Thank you. I have another one that Mom made for me out of printed fabric that she cut out, sewed and stuffed. Those are very precious to me. It is a way to hold on to what made us feel safe.

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  7. @ Linda .. gosh I now have Hardwick here - my mother's inherited dog from one of her patients .. my mother has had him on her bed all the time she was ill .. he has been a great comfort to her.

    Looks like we'll be companionable companions and he'll feature on the blog - in my mother's place ...

    I had a dolly doll .. but nothing in recent years .. Hardwick will be a good boy to have around ..

    Cheers Hilary

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