Christmas Bear

My son has been Baby Bear all of his life; or at least, up until he told me to drop the "baby" part of it. Every year for his birthday and for Christmas, we buy him a bear of some sort. When he was five or six years old, I bought him a silver charm which sat upon a leather necklace cord. This charm was a teddy bear. It was three dimensional, and it's head, arms and legs moved.

During that time, my son and I were having some serious difficulties.That charm was a symbol of my love for him and that no matter what happened, he would always be my baby bear. He treasured that little charm until one day, he didn't.

When he was just seven or eight years old, he threw a temper tantrum that broke a mother's heart. He yanked the necklace off of his neck and threw it as hard as he could at the wall. One of the legs popped off and has never been able to be fixed. In fact, the charm is hidden away in one of my desk somewhere.

Recently, Bear asked me about the charm and said he misses it. I've been thinking of it for quite some time. It was the one gift given to him that symbolizes everything a mother feels towards her child. It was the one gift he could take everywhere, and still have me and his childhood with him.

Last night we went to a small event in town. There was a parade and a lot of booths with people selling their wares. As I ducked into a booth to get away from the crowds, something caught my eye. Pure excitement leapt into my throat as I squealed out happily. There, pinned to the wall, was a second silver baby bear charm. The shop keeper told me how it was one of a kind and he hasn't seen anything like it anywhere else. I told him the story of my Baby Bear and his baby bear charm.

We bought the charm. Now, ten years later, my son is a senior in high school. For Christmas this year, we'll be giving him back his baby bear, the symbol of the bond between the two of us that can never be broken. For one year, he'll have a bit of magic during the holidays as he receives his own tiny Christmas miracle.