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How to build a bear
And I can almost guarantee I’ll start crying while writing this post, but I’ve come to admit this is one of my main ways of documenting our life, and this is too important not to post.
Tara and Sam’s third anniversary would have been May 19. And we wanted to do something special for her. One of the things that was so special and fun about Sam is his love of Star Wars.
So, we went to Build-A-Bear to make her a bear, and we after much conniving got his voice mail message to put in the bear. The people at Build-A-Bear were quite helpful in letting me do this. It took a lot of work.
After much deliberation we chose the cat, because Aunt Tara is a big cat fan. Then the kids all took turns pushing the foot pedal to stuff him, and they all decided he was appropriately huggable.

They all picked out a heart so Aunt Tara would have lots of love, and followed the charm for the cat, and then grudgingly put their hearts in.
Then they carefully gave the cat a bath.
They very carefully dressed him, with very few arguments of who got to put on what.

And posed happily for the camera with their “Uncle Sam Darth Vader” cat.
I think the only thing that saved all of us from crying like babies when we gave it to her was the kids’ enthusiasm for the present. And they’re very excited about getting to make their own someday soon!

And, I made it through writing this post without crying, barely.
Future Ticia 2022 revising the post to update the pictures barely made it through without crying.
Comments
13 responses to “How to build a bear”
I am crying.
You are a great friend. I bet she will always cherish that gift. AND your children will remember it too.
Made me cry just reading this. How sweet, that will be a special gift for her, well for all of you!
What a wonderful thing to do for a friend. I'm so glad you wrote this post, even if it did make me cry.
That is such a beautiful and thoughtful thing. <3
You are such a great friend. I am sorry that Sam is not here to appreciate such a great gift. It looks like the kids had a lot of fun making this cat. My mom took Anna to Build-A-Bear in NJ, but Anna absolutely refused to build herself a stuffy. I think she prefers not to know what's inside 🙂
What a sweet story.
So thoughtful, kind, and loving.
Okay, now you have all of us crying! But, that was a very sweet way to honor both your friends on what could have been a very hard day.
What a sweet thing for your kids to be involved in. Thank you for sharing!
What a good gift to give, and what a wonderful friend you are. I'm sure she loved it and always will. I didn't realize they had been married such a short time… how very sad. (Obviously it would be sad regardless of the amount of years, I know that.) This was a very touching post.
Very thoughtful. I also think this is a wonderful way to involve your children in a way that probably didn't feel sad to them, but allowed them to talk about Sam. I'm sorry for your loss.
Well, you made me tear up. I can just imagine how special that gift is to her, especially with the added voicemail message. Absolutely the most thoughtful gift ever.
OK, perhaps I am hard-hearted, but I didn't cry, but NOT because of this lovely gesture…
Because I was giggling about how the kiddos grudging put their hearts in the cat…
I am so glad God made children in the manner that He did…
Wishing you well on this sad anniversary…
(P.S. Oh, I am SO GLAD we are both on the crew…it's kinda like finding out you DO know someone else in your new school, so you won't have to eat lunch…alone…)
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