Today, November 16, 2015 is “Have a Party with Your Bear Day.” I love these unofficial holidays. I use love sitting up my bears to have a party inside a homemade tent. Spending time outdoors in the tent was the best part of lazy days of summer. My mom would help me construct the tent over the clothes line with three old blankets- two for the side and one for the floor. I would stay out there for hours.

I had tree bears that were my favorite toys. Let me tell you, these bears were well-loved. Two of the bears- a fuzzy brown bear and a Polar Bear were gifts from my grandparents when I was just born. The other brown bear was actually something I won. (Honestly, I think the stuffed bear is the only thing I have ever won).

The local bank was having a contest where you could get a key to try and unlock a small treasure chest. There was no age limit to participate. Can you imagine my excitement when my key unlocked the chest? Inside the chest were a variety of little white envelopes. I can imagine trying to figure out which one to pick. But I finally decided to pick out the one in the middle. I remember, everyone telling me the other envelopes were probably cash prizes. But I didn’t care; I had the best prize, a new brown bear. My best friend from childhood, JJ was with me at the time which makes the memory even better. (He died of cancer when we were 14). On the way home, we placed the bear between us in the backseat of the old van. We thought we were the greatest.

I was so excited to get the bear to go with my other two; the brown bear was their new friend. I remember, spending the entire next day outdoors in my tent. I mean, my bears and I were having a party. My peanut butter and jelly sandwich and Kool-Aid was a fancy party meal.

I still have all three bears. They are sitting on my dresser still watching over me after all these years.