Dave and "Frog" 1974
Many moons ago there was a little boy named Dave. Dave had a
stuffed frog which he named "Frog". Not "Green Frog" or
anything remotely creative. Nope, Dave was a steak and potatoes sort of kid, so
the stuffed Frog was just named "Frog".
Frog went everywhere with Dave. He traveled from
Philadelphia to Detroit and back again many times as he visited his
Grandparents and other family. Frog and Dave where inseparable. Dave knew every
stitch, every frayed plushy bit of Frog and they where Best of Friends. They
shared dreams of someday becoming Astronauts, or Firemen, or becoming the next
Evel Knievel.
Which is why Dave took Frog to Disney World in 1975.
After a late night of partying with Goofy, Donald and Peter
Pan; Dave woke up in a Hotel Room and turned to give Frog a hug... except Frog
wasn't there.
He looked under each bed, he looked in the bathroom, the
hallway, under the desk. Dave (and his frantic Parents) looked everywhere they
could think of, but Frog was gone. No trace, no explanation. Dave lost his Best
Friend and was taken kicking and screaming back to Michigan without his Frog.
Dave's Parents tried as best as they could to soften the
blow. They even tried to pass off a different stuffed frog as "Frog".
But Dave was on to them. He knew an imposter when he saw one and he banished
that lame faker frog up on the tallest shelf he could reach.
38 years later Dave has a daughter of his own, and as I,
White Bear, snuck away and out of Ella’s backpack I already knew how Dave would
take it. This is why I called him that
afternoon to assure him I wasn’t just taking off to woop it up with Tinkerbell
for the rest of my days. I had bigger
plans then that letch “Frog”.
I promised I’d write back to my Best Friend Ella from every
place I visited. I knew I was born to be
a Traveling Bear since that first day I peeked out of that box as I sailed
across the sea from a wonderful place called China. I wanted to see those places I spied from the
bouncy delivery truck again, to smell those flowers and feel the blades of blue
grass under my plushy toes!
My sweet Ella, I miss you so, and I know you
understand. You’ll always be the filling
in my heart.
~White Bear
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