We had a big scare, but it passed

Bear Bear Bear. Though Bear belongs to Payton, he is loved equally, if not more, by Kathleen and I. I suppose we love Bear for different reasons than Payton. Bear was given to Payton by his Aunt Janet. He has had Bear just about his entire life - almost since his day 1. To Payton, Bear is a companion at best and sometimes just a possession. But to us, Bear is so much more. He is a placeholder of memories. Payton has grown up with Bear. Bear is part of our family. To us Payton and Bear are like peas and carrots.

The SCARE came Monday afternoon. We asked Payton where Bear was and he didn't know. We did a quick search and didn't find any sign of Bear. We have lost Bear before and thankfully got him back. We have also thought we have lost him but have found out otherwise. Whenever Bear goes missing Kathleen and I panic. We searched again and again - no Bear. We were in shock - is Bear lost? Yes he was. I'm not sure how I felt, certainly a little depressed. Kathleen had tears. Payton was just sorry he lost Bear. We assured Payton that it wasn't his fault. The best we could guess was that Bear fell out of the car in the school parking lot. Kathleen drove back there Monday night to search for Bear, but he wasn't there.

Payton went to bed without Bear that night. I made up 'lost' signs. We went to school early on Tuesday to post the signs at and around the school. We gave signs to the teachers in hopes that a schoolmate found him and would return him. We heard nothing about Bear. He was missing.

Bear is a Gund Bogie bear #G15000T. Gund made the Bogie in tan, brown and cream. We have a spare bear, a brown one, we call him Brown Bear. But he isn't Bear. We found a 'brown' Gund Bogie bear on eBay. The picture looked more tan than brown so we bought him hoping he is really tan. We'll get this bear when we return to the States next week.

Tonight Kathleen found Bear. He has been returned to us once again. Somehow he got put at the back of a kitchen drawer. I thought I searched all the drawers. I guess I didn't do a good enough search. Finding Bear brought tears of joy to Kathleen. Payton was happy to have Bear again. I was too. We are so happy to have Bear back with us. It is times like this you realize just how important some things can be to you - even a matted down, floppy, sometimes stinky dirty stuffed bear.

We're glad you're 'back home' Bear. Don't ever leave us.