My Tumbles as I named him long ago, came into my life on the Christmas after I moved out of Devil Lady's house. I always had a blankie named Blankie when I was little at her house and one day she decided I didn't need him anymore and hid him away, because "big girls don't have blankies and suck their fingers".
Mom and I were out Christmas shopping in Toys R Us one day and she had been asking what I wanted for Christmas. I saw these bears on a shelf, their heads were over stuffed so that they would somersault when they were placed on the floor and I told her I wanted one. She laughed and said I was too big for stuffed toys, didn't I want new clothes or some jewelry? Maybe new earrings? I was going to be thirteen soon. Who wanted stuffed animals? When I went to bed later that night she was talking to my Dad and told him about the bear, and I can remember him telling her if I wanted the bear, then she should go get it for me. That I had been through so much in the past few months, if all I wanted was a bear I should be able to get it, no matter what my age was.
Christmas came and I got to the very last present - a big box of something - and I was sad because I hadn't gotten my bear. When I unwrapped the box and saw it was a big ziti pasta box everyone laughed and said "You got ziti! No silly, open it!" And Mr Tumbles was inside.
I like to think he and I were made to share our years together. I've always felt kind of broken because of everything, and Mr Tumbles wasn't stuffed properly so he could never somersault like his co-bears. It's never mattered though. He always had a spot on my bed, and came with me to school on pajama day during spirit week, he got packed up and came to college with me and then to my first apartment. He met my husband before he was ever my husband, and the man never once cared (or said he did anyways) that he had to share a bed with a stuffed bear and his girlfriend-then-turned-wife while he was in his thirties.
I will have to take a picture for everyone later on of Mr Tumbles.
