 | |
| Dean's childhood Winnie-the-Pooh surrounded by Baby-to-be's Heffalump (left) and baby Pooh & Tigger (right). |
Night had fallen when we arrived at the Many Adventures of Winnie the Pooh ride at Walt Disney World’s Fantasyland in the Magic Kingdom. It was after Christmas in December 2010. Santa had blessed with a gift for a family trip to Disney World. Jasmine and Timothy were in heaven and so was their mother Tracie - my wife.
Earlier, Tracie had asked me if there was any ride in the
Magic Kingdom that I wanted to go on. I
told her that I didn’t know of a certain ride, but I wanted to shop at the gift
shop in Fantasyland that sold the most Winnie the Pooh bears. As a child, Winnie the Pooh was my teddy bear. I could not sleep without my Pooh bear and
blue blanket. When my family visited
Disney World in the 70’s, I have vivid memories of all of the Pooh bears for
sale in a gift shop in Fantasyland.
Now, three decade later, I was back in that exact location
filled with the same child-like giddiness that I felt long ago. My eyes marveled at all of the different size
bears for sale along with Piglet, Eeyore, Rabbit, Kanga, Roo, Owl and Tigger! Tracie was quickly pulled away by Jasmine and
Timothy to see what they were looking at with their familiar excited cry of,
“Hey Mom! Look at _______.”
My eyes scanned the shop as I slowly walked through. Then I stopped at a side wall display of the
smallest stuffed Pooh bears. They were
made for babies. I picked up one of the
bears and heard the gentle rattle inside.
Clutching it to my chest as if it was my own child, a sweet gentle smile
spread across my face and tears welled up in my eyes.
“I want to take you home.”
I quietly said out load.
As I held the sweet adorable small bear, I thought of what
it would be like to hold this bear out to a little baby and shaking it to get a
smile from her or him.
Tracie walked up to me as I was holding this sweet little
Pooh and I said,
“Wouldn’t it be great to have this as a memento from our
trip to Disney World to pass on to our baby should they arrive in the coming
year?”
I was excited about the thought of having a baby with my
wife Tracie!!!
Quickly, we were overrun with excited Jasmine and Timothy. We told them that we wanted to pick out a
Pooh for our baby-to-be. Together, we
picked out a Winnie the Pooh, a Tigger and a Heffalump – all for baby to
be. Out of the store we carried these
adorable baby rattling animals that connected me to my past as a child, my
present as step-dad to Jasmine and Timothy, husband to Tracie AND to our future
as parents of a child to come.
