One Small Teddy Bear

Primary Children's Medical Center is in need of teddy bears and bright slippers for little boys. As I was knitting this small creature, I recalled a sweet encounter twenty-one years ago...

Audrey was just five weeks old when we drove from Burley to Salt Lake's Primary Children's Hospital. She was scheduled for plastic surgery to open her eyelids.

(from my journal) ...As we entered the outpatient area, I bit my lip. It was only 7:00 in the morning and the room was filled with parents and children. As my eyes scanned the room, my heart ached and I was filled with an overwhelming gratitude for the health of my children. Audrey's little handicap suddenly seemed SO small.

Three children in particular caught my attention; a little girl with big brown eyes and braced leg; a young burn victim - his face, his arms, his legs were covered in scar tissue, he had very little hair left on his head. 

And a little six-year-old boy.  It was clear that this was not his first experience at this hospital. He made his rounds to talk with the nurses and technicians. Each seemed to know him by name. He walked with a limp, his speech was slow and slurred. His head was shaved with the exception of his "mohawk" and revealed numerous scars from previous surgeries. In visiting with his mother, we learned that this was to be his 49th surgical attempt to drain access fluid from his brain.

He held a straggly teddy bear in his arms that looked as though it had been by his side through every hospital ordeal. It was thread-bare and worn. This young boy noticed another who was visibly nervous about having his tonsils removed. His mother was having difficulty consoling him. He cried and cried. The young "experience" boy walked over to comfort him and asked, "Would you like to take my teddy bear with you? It helps me feel better." It was more than my heart could take. 

If this little teddy bear could talk, imagine the stories it would tell.

"No one has ever become poor

by giving."

-- Anne Frank