About three years ago Gund retired a teddy bear named Cinnamon Spice. She was a stout little bear with a soft orange color. I liked her and decided to give the last one I had in my inventory to my mom for a birthday gift – her 92^nd birthday to be exact. Mom named her Cindy. Cindy gave her lots of hugs over the next three years and she traveled to a couple different homes as Mother needed more care. Now Cindy has come home to me.

Mom fell and broke her hip on December 22nd and passed away from complications on January 3rd. At 95, only being out of commission for two weeks is a pretty cool way to go. I was fortunate to have my brother here for the holidays, so he and Mom and I went through it together.

One of these months (or maybe years) I’ll let Cindy give hugs to someone else – but in the meantime, she’ll be giving hugs to me - and I'm grateful.

Every teddy bear has a story - what's your teddy bear's story?