Gund Bear

I was a pretty imaginative child. I created other worlds in which my legos, stuffed animals and bike would come to life! I created castles and magical worlds where anything could happen, and everything did. I fought lions, and dragons, saved damsel’s in distress on my trusty steed lightning. I created dream houses with my legos where money was never a problem and toppled over towers could always be fixed. And my best buddy Gund Bear and I would see all of the world in our ship, (a rounded back chair that was placed on its side so I could rock like a real ship).

Gund Bear was my best friend and in many respects still is. I know this is quite confessional of me, but when I feel upset, sick, or angry he’s who I still run to. I just want to go lay in bed and hold my childhood bear. He’s been through it all with me, we’ve traveled the world together, seen changes in each other and still have remained buddies through it all. I know that it sounds quite ridiculous that I’m talking about a bear, but it’s the idea of this other friend that I created for myself when I was a child that still remains with me today, and for that friend I am grateful. I learned how to communicate my feelings with him, how to share, how to be loyal and how to imagine. In him I found a good listener, loyalty, an adventure and always a nice soft hug.
I know it’s a bit odd that when I look back on my childhood and think about my closest friends I think of a bear, but I know I would be a totally different person if the little brown bear hadn’t come into my life.