My teddy guy

WARNING: SAPPY ALERT

I don't feel like blogging tonight, but there are some stories that must be told.

Today was a bad day. I felt sick, again. Stuff happened. The kind of stuff you want to say to the universe, hey I have cancer don't give me this other stuff too, but I am convinced that the universe has a perverse sense of humor. So today was one of those days that when anyone looked at me, I started crying.

Then a friend sent me an email. The friend is a colleague whom I have worked with for 6.5 years. Our relationship has on occasion been rocky and on occasion close allies. But the truth is, we always liked and respected each other. So the friend wants to talk and I go to his office because he has comfy chairs.

The friend, a big bear of man, comes in to the office carrying a small pink and blue and yellow teddy bear and announces that "This is Bear." Over 20 years ago he was having a bad time. Death of close loved ones and a house fire had left him with a bleak outlook. However, friends and neighbors gave him a "house warming" providing him with many of the basics he had lost. One small boy approached him with Bear and said, "here you need this more than I do." So now, after all these years of unjudgmental love from Bear, my friend decided that I needed it more than he did.

My friend attributed all sorts of magical, listening and advising powers to the creature. But to me the magical part was the gift. Someone had given me something precious and special just on the day I probably needed it most. I will cherish Bear, but my greatest wish is that someday I will pass it along to someone who needs it more than I do. Someone who will value the gift behind the gift. The real magic of love and friendship.