Day 24 of my gratitude posts. I have to admit I have been lazy. I’ve written most of them in bulk and scheduled them. I knew I would get caught up with something or the other and I really wanted to be consistent. There were certain days that required me to write on the day itself and I diligently kept a reminder to make time to write those ones out.
The best gift I’ve ever received. This is a tough one and it has to be something that doesn’t involve books and pets (I’d have to write books on these). I’m going to go with someone I have not blogged about in my entire blog history. Someone really special. Someone I have a lot of respect for and hold dear to me.
The gift was my Teddy Bear and the “Gifter” was my Godfather James Telfer. He was so similar to my Grandfather in his ways and mannerisms. Gentle and kind.
The first time he visited me, my earliest memory of him. I was in my grandfather’s arms when he arrived along with my father’s sister and their daughter. That was the first time I met all of them. I was two years old. My Godfather stood at the gate with his family, and while he waited for someone to open it, he pushed a Teddy Bear through the grills straight into my arms. It was an orange and white bear with a red plaid ribbon around its neck. From that day until the bear disintegrated, it was my most valued gift. I had it right through my life.
Me and my Teddy Bear.
My Grandfather, my Teddy Bear and me. The picture quality isn’t too great and I cropped everyone else out for privacy purposes.
Every time my Godfather visited he always had a special gift for me that he personally chose. Once he gifted me a Peter Rabbit plate set. I loved that set. It had a mug, a bowl and a plate. The bowl and plate broke when I moved but I still have the mug that I treasure. Another time he gave me a heart pendant. The chain broke but I saved the heart in a box. I still have the heart in my tiny box of treasures.
We never really got a chance to spend quality time together but we did exchange a few emails when I was all grown up. My memories of Uncle Jim are all happy ones. He taught me proper swimming techniques. Both my parents swam but they didn’t know techniques and it was my godfather who would teach me when we went to the beach. I loved those moments with him.
Whenever we’d travel, my mother would put it safely in a plastic bag and keep it on my bed. I am not ashamed to admit that I had him by my side at night right up until I crossed my thirties and that was when he fell apart. I had to throw him out because I was allergic to the dust the cloth was turning into. And now like everything else my Teddy Bear is just another happy memory!
Charmaine M. deSouza 