Before I had a computer I
had a word processor, and in 1992, I began to write poetry. I would print out
the poems then pepper my friends and family, far and wide, with them. No one
seemed to object, but after awhile I ran out of friends to send my poems to.
One of the poems I wrote and sent out was one called, "Teddy Bears,"
found at the end of this story.
Okay.
That Teddy Bear Poem bounced around from here to there, and seemed to bring
pleasure to a lot of people. Then I got the surprise of my life. I got an
E-mail from someone I had never heard of before. She told me about a man and
his wife, John and Hazel, who had started a tradition of making Teddy Bears,
not to sell, but to bring comfort. At first they made the Teddy Bears for
friends and family, but like me, they soon ran out of folks to make their bears
for.
John
called the bears he and his wife made, "Hazel's Bears," as she is the
one who began the project. However, Hazel became ill with blindness and soon
after, with Alzheimer's. That's when the idea came to John to turn his Teddy
Bear project into bringing comfort for the ill and invalid.
One
day a friend of John's handed him my poem, "Teddy Bears." He read the
poem to Hazel. It brought her such joy that John got the idea that he would
like to attach the Teddy Bear poem, to every Bear they made. His wife died in
April 2002, but John still carries on.
John
works as a volunteer at the Museum in Burnaby, British Columbia, Canada, and he
mentioned his idea of attaching the poem, "Teddy Bears," to the head
worker there. She said: "You know, John, that is a great idea, but the
poem is copyrighted, so you must have permission from the author to use the
poem." John hadn't thought of that, but he asked her how he could get the
author, Helen Dowd's, permission. After much research they found my E-mail
address. When I received the E-mail, I was happy to give permission for John to
attach my poem to his Bears.
I
had the privilege of going to the very first annual Teddy Bear Day at the
Burnaby Museum, where I met John. He had done the Teddy Bear poem up on a
pretty page and had printed out several copies. For a donation of a couple of
dollars, John gave out the poems to the people who came. The donations did not
go to John, not even for materials to make the bears. From his own meagre
pension he has taken the Teddy Bear project on as his own undertaking. All
donations received are for a worthy cause, that of helping out the ill and invalid.
And the Teddy Bears, whom he still calls "Hazel's Bears", although
his wife is now gone, were on display for people to see. They are great! Each
Teddy is different, each with a "personality" of its own.
People
came by to see the display, and when they were handed a poem, many of them
wanted me to sign it, which I happily did. I spent a couple of delightful hours
there at the Museum, hours I shall treasure forever.
John
calls all his Bears "Joel", a combination of John and Hazel. My Joel
sits on top of my computer. He is adorable, his arms outstretched, waiting for
someone to hug.