Lemon Bear and Jane....

Once upon a time...there was a little girl named Jane who loved a special bear. Lemon Bear was given to any child who was in the hospital and Jane's sister, Betsy had been in the hospital. She got a Lemon Bear. It didn't take long before Lemon Bear became a favorite of her baby sister. Jane loved the velvety feel of the bear and by the time she was 5, Lemon Bear looked pretty sad. His legs were hanging on, he had no "feelie" on him, and his eye was gone.

Jane decided that she should ask Santa to put new clothes on LB. So she wrote the note to Santa and I began scrambling to find another Lemon Bear. I found out who donated them (a bank), went to the bank and explained why I needed a Lemon Bear, and they found one Lemon Bear and gave it to me. [Remember this bear was given away 4 years earlier so it was no small feat to find this bear.] So the switch was made. On Christmas eve, 1986, Santa "dressed" Lemon Bear and Jane was thrilled. Jane has told the story for many years...and I know that she had never thought about what the real story was!

In 1986, I put Old Lemon Bear in a box and waited. I waited. I waited. You see, I could hardly wait to give Lemon Bear to Jane when she had her first child. Well, Emma was born on October 28, 2010 so Old Lemon Bear, New Lemon Bear, and "Surprise" Lemon Bear needed to come out.

I wrapped Old Lemon Bear along with New and Surprise LB and a bear from the Build-a-Bear Workshop all traveled to North Dakota.

Jane opened the box and saw New Lemon Bear and said...oh, LB doesn't look so bad. I thought that he would look worse... Then she unwrapped Old Lemon Bear and said, oh he does look bad...he doesn't have an eye and he really doesn't have any fur does he?

It was exciting to see Jane's face. It will be a memory that I cherish. It is something that I have waited for a long time. Surprise Lemon Bear will be Emma's bear. You see, when Jane was in gymnastics and I was talking to one of the moms. I was telling her about the Lemon Bear dilemma. She said, oh, I have one at home...I'll bring it...so that is how we got a Lemon Bear for Emma.

Throughout the years I have taken these bears out of the boxes that they were stored. I prayed for the child that would bring out the bears. Emma was born 4 weeks early. She is a beautiful little girl. She now has her own Lemon Bear...wonder if this little girl will love LB as much as the little girl who fell in love with OLD LB once upon a time....