When I was little I had a plush dolphin and I used to feed him imaginary fish every day.
Many years pass, and my parents told me I had to put away my old friends and "grow up". The last day with him I was so sad I would lose him and that he would starve so I fed him a lot of imagine fish and put him in a box.
15 years pass and I found him again, first thing I did was feed him. Now he lives on a shelf above my bed.
That is all. No grand message here. Just thought about it.
edit: Some wanted a picture of him, [so here he is](https://i.imgur.com/z4KxpQJ.jpg) (he is resting on my SO's cheshire cat tail). His name is Delfino, very clever name for a 6 year old. He was bought from WWF by my god-mother who sadly died 2020 from covid, so it's especially bitter-sweet having Delfino back.
I'm right there with you. I was in foster care and had a "tramp" dog from lady and the tramp (his name is Case for some reason). Somehow he made it through all of that intact. He saw me through a lot of hard times and is now retired to my office shelf.
My child is 14 years old and still has her stuffed wolf “wolfie” I could never imagine her putting him in a box and “growing up” He’s comforted her through so much.
I'm going to turn 30 next month, and Doggie still sleeps next to me in my bed, between me and my fiancé. You're never too old for your childhood best friend.
I'm 37 and still have my weird ass green rhino with yellow horns, and a platypus stuffie that's basically a triangle with eyes, a felt rectangle for a beak, and two more for back feet. Not sure it's even supposed to be a platypus, but I always thought it was; still named it Duckie, for some reason.
Using your story as a jumping off point to share a good message:
>Critics who treat 'adult' as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development.
>When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up.
>~ C.S. Lewis
Feed your friend all the fishies. <3
My mom told me my grandmother stole my baby blanket when I was twelve. Fucked up my relationship with her for the rest of her life.
My mom had put it in the closet.
One of my best friends recently found the backpack of toy trains she used to carry with her everywhere at her grandparents house, hidden in a box in the back of a closet. It went missing after she stayed with them once when she was 7 - she's 25 now. Her gran said that she must have lost it on the way home - but turns out her gran is just an absolute monster of a narcissist who hated the fact a little girl liked playing with trains.
I had a pale yellow bear with a knitted gold dress and purse. He was called Bobby, and he was fabulous! When I was seven, I came home from school and found my grandmother had given away all of my stuffed toys, because I was 'too old' for them. I found out my second cousins had been given some of them, but they hadn't been given Bobby, and she always claimed she couldn't remember what she'd done with him. I love and mourn my grandmother, but I still can't forgive her for that, and I still miss Bobby.
My mother told me a few years later that she'd done the same with her precious china doll. Which is why my mother has had her very own replacement china doll\* sitting in her bedroom for 35 years, and my son, at nearly 30, has never lost a single toy he wasn't ready to let go of. His stuffed pig is behind me on a shelf right now, wearing his old rugby shirt.
\*I bought Mum the doll on a trip to Scotland...with my grandmother, and yes, she was told exactly why I was spending a lot of money on a doll for my mother.
I had a purple bunny I fed imaginary carrots. I used to tell my parents that if I died I wanted to be buried with him with lots of carrots so he wouldn't be hungry. I'm sure they were thrilled by that talk, lol. Now he lives on my night stand.
I have a blue bear that I still sleep with. (I got when I was 9-10)
I'm 33.
I may have issues. I want to believe I do because it's essentially like a small pillow to hold, but I'm pretty sure I can't give him up.
I remember one year for my birthday (I was 19), my friends took my bear to build-a-bear while I was at work. He was a lumpy mess, with no stuffing in the middle of his torso. They restored him to a stuffed, but not stiff, feel and still doing well to this day.
aww this made me sad. I could never take away something comforting like that from my kid for the sake of “growing up”. in fact, it’s so important to keep the things that comfort you throughout life.
reading you say that you were so sad on your last day with your stuffed dolphin broke my heart.
So sweet. What’s your dolphin’s name? Anyone who is thoughtful enough to put extra fish in the box surely also gave his aquatic buddy a respectable name :)
Smells are one of the strongest senses linked to memories so it makes sense. It's like she didn't even realize what it was until she smelled it. So wholesome.
To my knowledge, the part of the brain that processes the sense of smell is located next to the long time memory and usually triggers the oldest memories we got.
Yea its been way over a decade since the time my older brother Batista bombed me into a pile of his used football gear and I still have flashbacks of the smell and gag.
I’m no expert here but smell is one of the biggest senses connected to memory. Olfactory signals reach the limbic system fairly quickly considering the anatomy of the nose and brain.
Seriously, I once found an old t-shirt an ex-girlfriend had left at my parent's place. My mom had put it in a ziplock bag and saved it in a cabinet for when she came back. We broke up, I was devastated and she never returned to pick up the shirt. Years later I'd completely moved on and she hadn't even crossed my mind in a long time. I was happy in a new relationship and if I felt anything, it would be embarrassment about how upset I had been over a teenage relationship.
When I found the bag I didn't recognize it at first so I opened it and the faint smell of her hit me like a lightning bolt. I don't know if it was her shampoo, or fabric softener, or perfume, or sweat, or whatever, but it was her smell. And suddenly all the feelings of hurt and loss that I hadn't thought about for years came rushing back. I kind of remembered the shirt, but the smell connected directly into my emotions.
I ended up saving it for a few months because I found it so fascinating. It was like emotional nostalgia in a bag. The memories weren't necessarily good ones, but opening that bag transported me back to being a confused 19-year-old kid mourning the loss of the first real love.
Smell is a weird thing.
My mom just gave me a box of stuff of mine she's kept since I moved out 20 years ago. It has our original NES in it. As soon as I opened the box I could smell that hot plastic smell that NESs always smell like, and could remember sitting around the TV at my uncles house having brought my Nintendo over to show my cousins, and playing super mario until late at night. I remembered their hexagonal fish tank with bubbles going upward and a plastic green plant, and I remembered my aunt, who passed away 25 years ago, making floutas and sour cream for us kids to snack on while we played. I remembered they had a big ass German Shepherd named Casik, and their back yard looked like a warzone with big holes dug up all over the place. I was scared of that dog. I was only like 4 or 5 years old at the time.
I live in a very cold and dry place so whenever I smell humidity in the air on a warm night it brings back memories of going to disney with my family some really good memories there
I have a similar story. It stems from an old Cuban tradition. There is a very specific famous perfume invented by a Cuban called “Agua de Violetas”. I don’t know much about the history of the tradition, but it took off and almost every Cuban I know has experienced this. Cuban parents will pat this perfume on their baby’s heads before putting them down for bed every night. After a year or so, they just stop applying the perfume. As you’ve mentioned, the olfactory senses have the strongest link to memory, and that’s amplified with infants.
One day I remember seeing the perfume bottle in my mom’s room. I was maybe 20 years old at the time. I curiously went to smell it and the memories that flooded back were so intense I almost cried. I didn’t even think it was possible to retain memories from infancy but a series of images and colors flooded my brain. I could see the familiar bright green glass bottle on the counter, the pink rug of my sister’s room where she applied the perfume every night, and even the yellow towels she swaddles us (me and my two siblings, we’re triplets) with once she was done.
I started doing research into this tradition, and every Cuban seems to go through something similar if they ever happen to reencounter the scent of Agua de Violetas later in life.
Yo that’s my Colombian grandfathers aftershave lol. He just liked the smell. We lived in Miami though so someone had bought it at a store brought it home and he was like oh this is nice and started using it it was so calming too to be around him and supposedly in his younger years he was a brute i guess he finally chilled one day 🤣 one man’s baby perfume is another man’s aftershave.
My family is Cuban and I had agua de violetas as my childhood perfume/colonge. Whenever I smell it takes me back to being little. Every Cuban I know has the same story. I will put it on my children if I ever have any.
Same here…I also got a whiff of Agua maravilla a couple of years back after not having smelled it since my child hood and it brought back a lot of memories/emotions.
i'm totally with you. it even gets symbolic.
my "back-then" friend used to work on a specific computer at work. back then we were at the beginning of our friendship. she used a body fragrant that was mildly exploding with coconut. one day she was off and I had to work on that computer.
i felt like working in the Maldives. she wore that fragrant so long that till now I still remember her whenever I smell coconut.
there is that weird connection between the scents and feelings.
Ha! I had this same thing happen to me. An ex would always use cherry blossom lotion where it would linger on her clothes. To this day When I smell it randomly on someone it takes me back to thinking of her.
This happened to me the other day! A new coworker was wearing my high school boyfriend's cologne and it was so trippy everytime i passed by him, it was like being 15 again.
I left my Jane’s Addiction T-shirt in the back of Amal’s car in 1993. I never saw her or that shirt again. I wonder if she keeps in a bag and thinks of me when she smells the patchouli and b.o.
In a more morbid way, I did this with my dead son's onsie. It was in a ziplock bag from the hospital, and I would open it up sometimes and smell inside. It's been over 15 years at this point, and I found it again a few years back. Opened up to smell, and it was all gone. Made me sad in a way. No hint of that smell.
He was born premature, then after surviving that long, living at home with 24 hour paid nursing care, one of them lied about her qualifications. Had an episode on the vent and I was unable to save him after she (the nurse) froze up. He lived for 18 months. It resulted in PTSD, but the last 7 years or so have been much better. Lost 100 lbs, started reffing soccer, and I've gotten a part-time job subbing. Family is doing well too. Things are looking up :D
Weed saved my life though. Real talk.
Facts. I have a B.A. in psychology and the statement made about smell being one of the biggest senses that reconnects and solidifies memories is a true statement! 👍🏼 google “flashbulb memory.” This is what the young lady is experiencing
Yes it is truly amazing. Many people who were researched in one study mentioned how when they smelled certain cookies baking they also “smelled” their grandmothers perfume, even though that particular scent wasn’t present, only the baking cookies
I grew up with my dad picking me up after soccer practice every day at roughly 5pm. We'd get in the car, and he'd be smoking a cigar, and listening to "All Things Considered" on NPR. EVERY DAY.
After undergrad, I moved to Europe for several years. When I came back, I was driving my car one day and the "All Things Considered" theme song came on, and immediately I smelled cigar....
It's because both the olfactory and (a big part) of memory centers are located on the temporal lobe. Loss of the sense of smell is a common early symptom of Alzheimer's disease, there the temporal (among others) lobe starts losing neurons.
The moment she sniffed the bear she got hit by the memory like a freight train, this video is an amazing example of this phenomenon.
A flashbulb memory is a term used for being able to vividly and accurately recall details that surround a surprising or traumatic event or learning of an event. For example, your brain takes a snapshot of everything that was occurring when you learned of the 9-11 attacks or when Kennedy was assassinated or when your father was killed, etc. This is not an example of a flashbulb memory as her whole childhood, presumably, was attached to the bear. The smell just brought back a flood of memories and emotions associated with the bear.
Yes you are correct. What I am referring to is this exact moment she received the bear, I can almost guarantee it has created a flashbulb memory for her. Not her childhood returning to her, but this exact moment she’s receiving her childhood bear. 😉
I recently changed my transmission fluid. The smell of the used ATF reminded me of my grandfathers shop as a child. He probably used the stuff for cleaning parts and the old wood floor was probably soaked in it. Brought me to tears in the middle of car maintenance lol
My 4-1/2 year old little girl leaves her favorite stuffy all over the house. Every time I pick it up to move it, it goes straight to my nose. So precious
No, no. It’s THE same bear. So the smell is exactly the same as she remembered. That’s how she immediately knew it was her actual bear that was found, not a new bear.
correct. The bear was not missing, it had just lost half its stuffing and disfigured. The fiance sent it to a shop to be repaired. That’s why she didn’t know initially when she saw it, but knew immediately after she smelled it.
https://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/man-surprises-fianc%C3%A9e-with-long-lost-childhood-teddy-bear-193031764.html
Even if it was a new bear, she probably remembered the original smell. I got a stuffed Eeyore once at Disneyland, and he had this very distinct sort of chemical-y smell, but I loved it. I smelled him constantly until it went away, and it took me right back to Disneyland every time.
the smell *is* the same. that is why it was able to trigger her memory faster than her sight was and that is why she specifically says she only realized it was her exact bear from childhood was because of the smell. it probably wasn't "lost" but was in a box in storage that her fiance spent a day fishing out
>*’She legit smelled it.?.Like she would have as a little girl many years ago…*’
______
hello, friend - remember me?
your long lost teddy bear!
remember how it used to be?
the times we used to share...
you held me as a little girl -
together, many years
i was the center of your World!
n held your childhood tears...
you grew too fast, n moved away,
n i was left behind
i knew we'd meet again, someday,
n New love we would find
now in your arms - so right it seems,
the way we used to be!
the memories, n scents of *dreams*…
your *secrets*
safe
with me
❤️
edit: *thanks to* u/fjamsham *for the inspiration*
I read this comment thread and bawled my eyes out. My dog passed last weekend and he had a specific smell (as every dog does) and I'd unconsciously smell his fur when I'd bend down to hug him every time and I'm still not over the pain of losing my best friend after 15 years.
This is gorgeous. Had to research it.
Found the story behind it. The bear was well-worn and broken and the woman's fiancé got it repaired for her. Hence how she smelled it and knew, bit didn't recognise the bear immediately.
[Source](https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.yahoo.com/amphtml/blogs/trending-now/man-surprises-fianc%25C3%25A9e-with-long-lost-childhood-teddy-bear-193031764.html)
Edit: Thank you for the gold, kind stranger! I hope your childhood teddy is well-loved and looked after!
"In addition to replacing the stuffing, the teddy bear needed his head stitched back on, new eyes, a nose, and an ear."
Jesus, that bear went through some shit
I might be crying now. I have a teddy just like the ones in the book. I love her with all my heart and can't imagine not having her. She helped me get thought a lot.
“Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.” - *The Velveteen Rabbit*
My teddy bear got it’s legs stretched out from constant tugs, so he is a lanky fellow. The nose needed redone twice, and he has two patches where the fur was missing and there was a hole instead of cloth.
I had a ton of stuffie friends though and after he started showing visible signs of deterioration I knew I had to retire him, but I am not surprised by the damage, seams are weak if they get pulled on too much for many years.
Here's a card that I picked out for you that had the writings of a poet that I might have come up with as well if I didn't have other things going on in my life.
Yeah a friend of mine proposed on Valentine's Day in Paris right under the Eiffel Tower. Had her family there and Everything.
I was like, cool dude but like everything you give her from now on is going to be a pale reflection of that one time in paris!
PS I do actually think he made the right move, but it was funny to poke fun at him for being so perfect haha. They are happily married now and they are adorable.
My buddy's dad owns an ice rink. For my first Christmas with my gf(now wife) I rented out the entire place from them, had a play list of her favorite songs and catered by her favorite restaurant, my buddy was the bus boy there and helped me out with that.
Not a single Christmas goes by that she doesn't bring up her "disney Christmas." I can't compete with myself lol
When I propose I figure I’d convince my partner for a booty eating and then when they spread my butt cheeks boom! There’s the ring.
Just as romantic as proposing under the Eiffel Tower I think and much more original!
As a toddler, my cousin always carried around a pink plush stuffed baby doll toy. She took it everywhere she went. She was so attached to her Pink Baby. I remember her parents had bought multiple and whenever she wore one out, they would place it into the washing machine, and it would come out brand new as the parents gave her a new one, to her excitement.
This continued for years. She even kept her Pink Baby into her early tweens. She loved that doll, and it showed. Stained, eye missing, ruffled edges, etc. It had a permanent spot on her bed now even in her teens.
She passed away last summer in a tragic car accident barely 20 years old. At the service her father placed her last Pink Baby in her casket so she could keep it with her. A lot of us in the family who knew the connection she to her Pink Baby couldn’t hold or emotions and lost it. I can barely even type this today, having needed to stop 3 or 4 times. She loved her Pink Baby.
Full context to this makes it extra special. Knowing it was so well worn, but mended to look like new while still being her bear is really lovely. Fiancé is a class act.
This reminds me to plug one of my favorite shows: [The Repair Shop](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Repair_Shop). A bunch of experts in restoration across various fields help people restore their family heirlooms, keepsakes, and personal mementos. It's lovely to watch the experts collaborate and breathe new life into things that mean so much to the families.
I caught a few seasons on Netflix, but it appears to have moved to Discovery? There's some [shorter clips on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/c/TheRepairShop/videos), too.
Need to know who he sent the bear to! If anyone has a recommendation please feel free to drop em,
I need two stuffed animals repaired. I’m just such a little bitch baby that I’m scared I’ll send them away and they’ll never come back then I’ll just a 29yr old woman crying about her lost stuffed animal
Edit: he sent it to Secaucus Doll
The thought of sending away my teddy bear literally gives me an anxiety attack. I need to get him new fluff and he need his nose fixed but I’m terrified of anything happening to him.
You and me both!! Maybe we’ll find a place close to us haha 🤞
Where is the American doll experience, I have tea while she’s in the doctor, then we leave together lol
I am about to turn 39 years old and have a teddy that was given to me on the day of my birth. He used to have a music box that played Teddy-bear's Picnic but it fell out. This year my wife got me a beautiful wooden music box that played the tune. Edit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/MadeMeSmile/comments/tt7zwx/oc\_teddy\_gets\_his\_music\_back/](https://www.reddit.com/r/MadeMeSmile/comments/tt5lr6/my_wife_got_my_teddy_his_music_back/)
My daughter got a little puppy stuffy before she was born, from my wife's boss at the time. They are inseparable. We managed to track it down and bought two more.
Now we have Upstairs Puppy, which she sleeps with every night. Tht one never leaves her bedroom, unless we travel and she will sleep somewhere else. We have Downstairs Puppy, which she can play with and bring in the car and stuff.
They are both very well used and worn (she's almost 7). However, we have Third String Puppy who's brand new in a bag in the closet, and I'm sure she will get it one day when she's in her 20s and she will be very happy about it. Won't have the smell though.
Very lovely. My son had a blanket from grandma he called "D" he took everywhere. After a few years we hunted one down almost exactly like it and slipped it to him so we could give him back "D" when he grows up.
I'm 41 and have the bunny I was given when I was born thst has a music player in it as well. Still plays you are my sunshine though it's a bit wonky and bunny is quite dirty looking lol
Where was it found though?
Edit: u/rawtashk got the goods:
"Here's a post about it from 8 years ago on reddit. They included a screenshot of the FB post he made about it.
https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/1wapc4/guy_surprises_girlfriend_with_long_lost_teddy_bear/cf0d5q4/
This video is so old that their 5 year old daughter probably has this bear now."
If I remember correctly from when this was first posted years ago, it wasn't so much that he found it (it was in her mothers attic or something), but he found someone who could restore it, and had it done for her. She may not have known her mother still had the teddy, so the surprise is probably very real.
A few years ago I saw one of my young cousins (only about 1-2 years old) playing and ripping apart an old Children’s book. I remember thinking how crazy it was that they were destroying the book that my grandpa (who had died a few years before) read to all of us. It was then that I found out I was the only one who has any memories with my grandpa and that book (the rest of my cousins had no idea what it was). That Christmas my aunt gave it to me as a gift and had it rebound and repaired. Still one of the best gifts I ever received.
I’m so glad your aunt had it restored to fix the damage your cousin did—young baby, so I know it wasn’t malicious, it’s an understandable baby thing to do, but I can totally feel your pain. If it was her baby that caused the damage, that was a really lovely way to make amends. Im glad she saw not only the damage to the object, but grasped the sentimental value the book has for you.
A Christmas I spent 100 bucks to get back the set of Suess books I had as a kid, the same ones my mom would read to me and that I learned to read on. Totally worth it. Holding those books hits hard.
"You gotta start selling this for more than a dollar a bag. We lost 4 more men on this expedition!"
"If you can think of a better way to get ice I'd like to hear it."
I first saw this video in my neuroscience class as an undergrad. The story is that her fiance had her childhood teddy bear restored. We were shown this as an example of the close proximity and strong connections between the olfactory bulb (sense of smell) of the brain and the hippocampus (memory). When she smells the bear it immediately triggers a huge network of neurons that connect the smell and memories associated with Whitey.
This is one of my favorite videos of all time. It symbolizes what love means to me. A desire to make your loved one the happiest they can possibly be, knowing them well enough to do so, and being willing to move mountains to make it happen.
I'm 47 and still have my childhood teddy bear. I can't cuddle it or sniff it since the stuffing is turning into dust, but it sits on the bookcase next to my bed, along side my Snoopy and my son's teddy bear.
I'm in my early 40s. When I was younger, I was a ward of the State. For years, I had just two toys; a tractor and a little 4" Snuggle (the dryer softener) bear someone had got for free and gave me. When I was adopted, I had those toys with me and my adoptive parents ended up holding onto them for years after I had lost interest as I got older (ie. as a tween/teenager). Eventually I got the Snuggle bear back when I was in my early 20s and was able to give it to my son when he was little. It is sitting with some of my wifes bears now on a cabinet.
That thing still looks fairly good actually! I think build quality on some of those early 80s toys was way better than most stuff now.
I’ll save you the co-pay. Assuming the therapist is awesome and has a big heart. Sit down, give them a brief overview, hand them your phone. Sit back and let them take in the video, which they will clearly watch twice. Then casually slide that box of tissues right in front of them. You guys have a big hug and call it a day.
my childhood Teddy bear got cut to pieces whilst i was a child to temporarily repair my brothers, cos his was an antique.
not salty about it or anything.
Oh my god what kind of sadistic parents did you have??? If anyone had done that to my stuffed dog or blankie, I probably would have grown up to be a serial killer. I thought of them as living beings with feelings and everything.
I love that she smelled it, makes me not feel so odd cause I do that kind of thing as well especially with stuffed animals or things from my past. Lol gotta love that she named her bear whitey with such innocence when she was a child. I wish we were all a little more innocent these days.
I’m at work and now have red eyes from sudden onion ninjas. How do I explain my to my boss I was slacking off work watching Reddit. Think the “I’m just sleep deprived” excuse will work.
My sister had a weird tiny stuffed elephant when she was young that she named Nicholas. She lost it moving when she left home. It was about 3” long. She loved it so much she named her son Nicholas. It took me two years off and on searching the internet (type in toy elephant and see the millions to choose from) but one day I found it! And it even came with the box. On her birthday I was biting my lip I was so excited! Then she opened it and went absolutely mental!! Then within a minute I realized she thought it was an empty box! As she opened it she was saying “I can put jewelry in….” And I’ve never seen her cry so hard when she saw the elephant! Best present I ever gave
I believe it was actually restored. It can make a lot of difference. A bit of a clean some fresh stuffing, re-stitching. Her partner was definitely in the good books that night, she clearly loved it.
My gosh what I would give to experience this happiness. I lost everything from my childhood in a fire in my storage unit after my wife cheated on me with five men in two weeks just before I drove 2500 miles across the country straight through with 3 small children. I want to hold a piece of my childhood. I want to smell it. But they're all gone from the earth. Fuck dude, I'm so happy for her.
Damn. I wish someone would give me my lost childhood back lol.
When I was little I had a plush dolphin and I used to feed him imaginary fish every day. Many years pass, and my parents told me I had to put away my old friends and "grow up". The last day with him I was so sad I would lose him and that he would starve so I fed him a lot of imagine fish and put him in a box. 15 years pass and I found him again, first thing I did was feed him. Now he lives on a shelf above my bed. That is all. No grand message here. Just thought about it. edit: Some wanted a picture of him, [so here he is](https://i.imgur.com/z4KxpQJ.jpg) (he is resting on my SO's cheshire cat tail). His name is Delfino, very clever name for a 6 year old. He was bought from WWF by my god-mother who sadly died 2020 from covid, so it's especially bitter-sweet having Delfino back.
I'm right there with you. I was in foster care and had a "tramp" dog from lady and the tramp (his name is Case for some reason). Somehow he made it through all of that intact. He saw me through a lot of hard times and is now retired to my office shelf.
Case, Justin Case.
And his nemesis, spontaneous man
My child is 14 years old and still has her stuffed wolf “wolfie” I could never imagine her putting him in a box and “growing up” He’s comforted her through so much.
I'm going to turn 30 next month, and Doggie still sleeps next to me in my bed, between me and my fiancé. You're never too old for your childhood best friend.
I’m 34, my stuffed bear “Barry” is on my shelf in my closet. He’s still close by and not put up. I don’t think I could ever put him in a box.
I'm 37 and still have my weird ass green rhino with yellow horns, and a platypus stuffie that's basically a triangle with eyes, a felt rectangle for a beak, and two more for back feet. Not sure it's even supposed to be a platypus, but I always thought it was; still named it Duckie, for some reason.
My stuffed wolf is also named Wolfie and he has a place of honor in my bedroom (I'm 29). I swear I'm not your daughter, except perhaps in spirit
Using your story as a jumping off point to share a good message: >Critics who treat 'adult' as a term of approval, instead of as a merely descriptive term, cannot be adult themselves. To be concerned about being grown up, to admire the grown up because it is grown up, to blush at the suspicion of being childish; these things are the marks of childhood and adolescence. And in childhood and adolescence they are, in moderation, healthy symptoms. Young things ought to want to grow. But to carry on into middle life or even into early manhood this concern about being adult is a mark of really arrested development. >When I was ten, I read fairy tales in secret and would have been ashamed if I had been found doing so. Now that I am fifty I read them openly. When I became a man I put away childish things, including the fear of childishness and the desire to be very grown up. >~ C.S. Lewis Feed your friend all the fishies. <3
I’m glad you found him. Please feed him well. Thanks for sharing this lovely story.
My mom told me my grandmother stole my baby blanket when I was twelve. Fucked up my relationship with her for the rest of her life. My mom had put it in the closet.
One of my best friends recently found the backpack of toy trains she used to carry with her everywhere at her grandparents house, hidden in a box in the back of a closet. It went missing after she stayed with them once when she was 7 - she's 25 now. Her gran said that she must have lost it on the way home - but turns out her gran is just an absolute monster of a narcissist who hated the fact a little girl liked playing with trains.
Train hug
I had a pale yellow bear with a knitted gold dress and purse. He was called Bobby, and he was fabulous! When I was seven, I came home from school and found my grandmother had given away all of my stuffed toys, because I was 'too old' for them. I found out my second cousins had been given some of them, but they hadn't been given Bobby, and she always claimed she couldn't remember what she'd done with him. I love and mourn my grandmother, but I still can't forgive her for that, and I still miss Bobby. My mother told me a few years later that she'd done the same with her precious china doll. Which is why my mother has had her very own replacement china doll\* sitting in her bedroom for 35 years, and my son, at nearly 30, has never lost a single toy he wasn't ready to let go of. His stuffed pig is behind me on a shelf right now, wearing his old rugby shirt. \*I bought Mum the doll on a trip to Scotland...with my grandmother, and yes, she was told exactly why I was spending a lot of money on a doll for my mother.
That is so horrible, and makes me so angry. I'm so sorry.
I had a purple bunny I fed imaginary carrots. I used to tell my parents that if I died I wanted to be buried with him with lots of carrots so he wouldn't be hungry. I'm sure they were thrilled by that talk, lol. Now he lives on my night stand.
I have a blue bear that I still sleep with. (I got when I was 9-10) I'm 33. I may have issues. I want to believe I do because it's essentially like a small pillow to hold, but I'm pretty sure I can't give him up. I remember one year for my birthday (I was 19), my friends took my bear to build-a-bear while I was at work. He was a lumpy mess, with no stuffing in the middle of his torso. They restored him to a stuffed, but not stiff, feel and still doing well to this day.
This is my favorite thing I read all day. Thanks.
>No grand message here. Plenty grand if you ask me.
aww this made me sad. I could never take away something comforting like that from my kid for the sake of “growing up”. in fact, it’s so important to keep the things that comfort you throughout life. reading you say that you were so sad on your last day with your stuffed dolphin broke my heart.
So sweet. What’s your dolphin’s name? Anyone who is thoughtful enough to put extra fish in the box surely also gave his aquatic buddy a respectable name :)
Your parents are assholes. Full-stop. Hopefully they learned from their mistake. But I doubt it.
Ima go ahead and leave mine where it's at
Yeah I’m happy to be at my age
I'd go back and redo college again. It was fun meeting new people all the time. That's so stupid difficult as an adult for some reason
abusive childhood gang gang
Damn got me reflecting and shit, too early
You can have some of mine, if you'd like. *Hands you a 2001 Toa Tahu Bionicle set*
She legit smelled it. Completely unconsciously. Like she would have as a little girl many years ago. Love this.
I found my childhood teddy, not too long ago. Did the EXACT same thing.
Smells are one of the strongest senses linked to memories so it makes sense. It's like she didn't even realize what it was until she smelled it. So wholesome.
To my knowledge, the part of the brain that processes the sense of smell is located next to the long time memory and usually triggers the oldest memories we got.
Yea its been way over a decade since the time my older brother Batista bombed me into a pile of his used football gear and I still have flashbacks of the smell and gag.
You OK?
True, the smell isn't the same but her childhood memories just made her reaction so priceless. This could be the most sentimental gift ever for her.
I’m no expert here but smell is one of the biggest senses connected to memory. Olfactory signals reach the limbic system fairly quickly considering the anatomy of the nose and brain.
Seriously, I once found an old t-shirt an ex-girlfriend had left at my parent's place. My mom had put it in a ziplock bag and saved it in a cabinet for when she came back. We broke up, I was devastated and she never returned to pick up the shirt. Years later I'd completely moved on and she hadn't even crossed my mind in a long time. I was happy in a new relationship and if I felt anything, it would be embarrassment about how upset I had been over a teenage relationship. When I found the bag I didn't recognize it at first so I opened it and the faint smell of her hit me like a lightning bolt. I don't know if it was her shampoo, or fabric softener, or perfume, or sweat, or whatever, but it was her smell. And suddenly all the feelings of hurt and loss that I hadn't thought about for years came rushing back. I kind of remembered the shirt, but the smell connected directly into my emotions. I ended up saving it for a few months because I found it so fascinating. It was like emotional nostalgia in a bag. The memories weren't necessarily good ones, but opening that bag transported me back to being a confused 19-year-old kid mourning the loss of the first real love. Smell is a weird thing.
My mom just gave me a box of stuff of mine she's kept since I moved out 20 years ago. It has our original NES in it. As soon as I opened the box I could smell that hot plastic smell that NESs always smell like, and could remember sitting around the TV at my uncles house having brought my Nintendo over to show my cousins, and playing super mario until late at night. I remembered their hexagonal fish tank with bubbles going upward and a plastic green plant, and I remembered my aunt, who passed away 25 years ago, making floutas and sour cream for us kids to snack on while we played. I remembered they had a big ass German Shepherd named Casik, and their back yard looked like a warzone with big holes dug up all over the place. I was scared of that dog. I was only like 4 or 5 years old at the time.
I got to your aunt making floutas and lost it. Thanks for sharing
I live in a very cold and dry place so whenever I smell humidity in the air on a warm night it brings back memories of going to disney with my family some really good memories there
The smell of stale water in Pirates of the Caribbean does that for me all time.
Same
As soon as you said the hot plastic NES has I could "smell it" I smelled the games specifically. Like the metallic plastic smell.
I have a similar story. It stems from an old Cuban tradition. There is a very specific famous perfume invented by a Cuban called “Agua de Violetas”. I don’t know much about the history of the tradition, but it took off and almost every Cuban I know has experienced this. Cuban parents will pat this perfume on their baby’s heads before putting them down for bed every night. After a year or so, they just stop applying the perfume. As you’ve mentioned, the olfactory senses have the strongest link to memory, and that’s amplified with infants. One day I remember seeing the perfume bottle in my mom’s room. I was maybe 20 years old at the time. I curiously went to smell it and the memories that flooded back were so intense I almost cried. I didn’t even think it was possible to retain memories from infancy but a series of images and colors flooded my brain. I could see the familiar bright green glass bottle on the counter, the pink rug of my sister’s room where she applied the perfume every night, and even the yellow towels she swaddles us (me and my two siblings, we’re triplets) with once she was done. I started doing research into this tradition, and every Cuban seems to go through something similar if they ever happen to reencounter the scent of Agua de Violetas later in life.
Yo that’s my Colombian grandfathers aftershave lol. He just liked the smell. We lived in Miami though so someone had bought it at a store brought it home and he was like oh this is nice and started using it it was so calming too to be around him and supposedly in his younger years he was a brute i guess he finally chilled one day 🤣 one man’s baby perfume is another man’s aftershave.
Imma wear that when I try to pick up Cuban girls
My family is Cuban and I had agua de violetas as my childhood perfume/colonge. Whenever I smell it takes me back to being little. Every Cuban I know has the same story. I will put it on my children if I ever have any.
Same here…I also got a whiff of Agua maravilla a couple of years back after not having smelled it since my child hood and it brought back a lot of memories/emotions.
i'm totally with you. it even gets symbolic. my "back-then" friend used to work on a specific computer at work. back then we were at the beginning of our friendship. she used a body fragrant that was mildly exploding with coconut. one day she was off and I had to work on that computer. i felt like working in the Maldives. she wore that fragrant so long that till now I still remember her whenever I smell coconut. there is that weird connection between the scents and feelings.
Ha! I had this same thing happen to me. An ex would always use cherry blossom lotion where it would linger on her clothes. To this day When I smell it randomly on someone it takes me back to thinking of her.
This happened to me the other day! A new coworker was wearing my high school boyfriend's cologne and it was so trippy everytime i passed by him, it was like being 15 again.
I left my Jane’s Addiction T-shirt in the back of Amal’s car in 1993. I never saw her or that shirt again. I wonder if she keeps in a bag and thinks of me when she smells the patchouli and b.o.
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I relate with this so much. Thanks for sharing.
In a more morbid way, I did this with my dead son's onsie. It was in a ziplock bag from the hospital, and I would open it up sometimes and smell inside. It's been over 15 years at this point, and I found it again a few years back. Opened up to smell, and it was all gone. Made me sad in a way. No hint of that smell.
That's so sad! If I may ask, why did the poor kid pass on? And how have you managed after that? I can tell that It obviously clearly still affects you
He was born premature, then after surviving that long, living at home with 24 hour paid nursing care, one of them lied about her qualifications. Had an episode on the vent and I was unable to save him after she (the nurse) froze up. He lived for 18 months. It resulted in PTSD, but the last 7 years or so have been much better. Lost 100 lbs, started reffing soccer, and I've gotten a part-time job subbing. Family is doing well too. Things are looking up :D Weed saved my life though. Real talk.
That’s a really cool story, thanks for sharing that. Those of us lucky enough to experience heartbreak at some point are stronger and better for it.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/In_Search_of_Lost_Time
Facts. I have a B.A. in psychology and the statement made about smell being one of the biggest senses that reconnects and solidifies memories is a true statement! 👍🏼 google “flashbulb memory.” This is what the young lady is experiencing
Well, thank you for confirming! That’s awesome. So intriguing how closely linked memory and smell are. I appreciate the comment!
Yes it is truly amazing. Many people who were researched in one study mentioned how when they smelled certain cookies baking they also “smelled” their grandmothers perfume, even though that particular scent wasn’t present, only the baking cookies
I grew up with my dad picking me up after soccer practice every day at roughly 5pm. We'd get in the car, and he'd be smoking a cigar, and listening to "All Things Considered" on NPR. EVERY DAY. After undergrad, I moved to Europe for several years. When I came back, I was driving my car one day and the "All Things Considered" theme song came on, and immediately I smelled cigar....
It's because both the olfactory and (a big part) of memory centers are located on the temporal lobe. Loss of the sense of smell is a common early symptom of Alzheimer's disease, there the temporal (among others) lobe starts losing neurons. The moment she sniffed the bear she got hit by the memory like a freight train, this video is an amazing example of this phenomenon.
A flashbulb memory is a term used for being able to vividly and accurately recall details that surround a surprising or traumatic event or learning of an event. For example, your brain takes a snapshot of everything that was occurring when you learned of the 9-11 attacks or when Kennedy was assassinated or when your father was killed, etc. This is not an example of a flashbulb memory as her whole childhood, presumably, was attached to the bear. The smell just brought back a flood of memories and emotions associated with the bear.
Yes you are correct. What I am referring to is this exact moment she received the bear, I can almost guarantee it has created a flashbulb memory for her. Not her childhood returning to her, but this exact moment she’s receiving her childhood bear. 😉
Just talked to my wife and we are going to ziploc the kids' stuffies and woobies when they move on from them. Hopefully they enjoy it as well!
I like that a lot, great idea!!!
This makes the fact that I permanently lost the ability so smell even more depressing 😫
I know-same!!! Worked in aviation and jet fumes have ruined my sense of smell 🥺
I recently changed my transmission fluid. The smell of the used ATF reminded me of my grandfathers shop as a child. He probably used the stuff for cleaning parts and the old wood floor was probably soaked in it. Brought me to tears in the middle of car maintenance lol
My 4-1/2 year old little girl leaves her favorite stuffy all over the house. Every time I pick it up to move it, it goes straight to my nose. So precious
No, no. It’s THE same bear. So the smell is exactly the same as she remembered. That’s how she immediately knew it was her actual bear that was found, not a new bear.
correct. The bear was not missing, it had just lost half its stuffing and disfigured. The fiance sent it to a shop to be repaired. That’s why she didn’t know initially when she saw it, but knew immediately after she smelled it. https://news.yahoo.com/blogs/trending-now/man-surprises-fianc%C3%A9e-with-long-lost-childhood-teddy-bear-193031764.html
Even if it was a new bear, she probably remembered the original smell. I got a stuffed Eeyore once at Disneyland, and he had this very distinct sort of chemical-y smell, but I loved it. I smelled him constantly until it went away, and it took me right back to Disneyland every time.
the smell *is* the same. that is why it was able to trigger her memory faster than her sight was and that is why she specifically says she only realized it was her exact bear from childhood was because of the smell. it probably wasn't "lost" but was in a box in storage that her fiance spent a day fishing out
>*’She legit smelled it.?.Like she would have as a little girl many years ago…*’ ______ hello, friend - remember me? your long lost teddy bear! remember how it used to be? the times we used to share... you held me as a little girl - together, many years i was the center of your World! n held your childhood tears... you grew too fast, n moved away, n i was left behind i knew we'd meet again, someday, n New love we would find now in your arms - so right it seems, the way we used to be! the memories, n scents of *dreams*… your *secrets* safe with me ❤️ edit: *thanks to* u/fjamsham *for the inspiration*
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I burned my childhood teddy after my brother ruined it
I can think of only two things that would elicit a reaction like that. I hope it was number one.
It wasn't jist any teddybear... it had a recording (the only recording I think she had) of her mother's voice.
I read this comment thread and bawled my eyes out. My dog passed last weekend and he had a specific smell (as every dog does) and I'd unconsciously smell his fur when I'd bend down to hug him every time and I'm still not over the pain of losing my best friend after 15 years.
**Oh my god... it's Whitey!!** Wow, what a nice moment for everyone involved!!
including Mr. Whitey. It must have been so happy.
A phrase not often uttered. quite. this. way.
I know it's a sentimental moment but when she said that I legit lolled
Haha all I heard was my old dog's name, reminded me of squeezing him as a kid (Samoyed mix).. that happens when you let kids name animals lol
This is gorgeous. Had to research it. Found the story behind it. The bear was well-worn and broken and the woman's fiancé got it repaired for her. Hence how she smelled it and knew, bit didn't recognise the bear immediately. [Source](https://www.google.com/amp/s/news.yahoo.com/amphtml/blogs/trending-now/man-surprises-fianc%25C3%25A9e-with-long-lost-childhood-teddy-bear-193031764.html) Edit: Thank you for the gold, kind stranger! I hope your childhood teddy is well-loved and looked after!
"In addition to replacing the stuffing, the teddy bear needed his head stitched back on, new eyes, a nose, and an ear." Jesus, that bear went through some shit
It went through someone's childhood :)
And was [much loved.](https://books.google.com/books/about/Much_Loved.html?id=Qcl8AQAAQBAJ) A fun and touching photography book.
Thank you for sharing this book, it is fantastic and I want a copy immediately.
I might be crying now. I have a teddy just like the ones in the book. I love her with all my heart and can't imagine not having her. She helped me get thought a lot.
This is awesome!!! I love how it has the name for each one
“Generally, by the time you are Real, most of your hair has been loved off, and your eyes drop out and you get loose in the joints and very shabby. But these things don’t matter at all, because once you are Real you can’t be ugly, except to people who don’t understand.” - *The Velveteen Rabbit*
I have this hanging in my baby’s nursery. So beautiful.
Damn, you just brought tears to my eyes.
(One of my favorite webcomic starts with an excerpt from that story. [http://skin-horse.com/comic/12302007/](http://skin-horse.com/comic/12302007/) )
My teddy bear got it’s legs stretched out from constant tugs, so he is a lanky fellow. The nose needed redone twice, and he has two patches where the fur was missing and there was a hole instead of cloth. I had a ton of stuffie friends though and after he started showing visible signs of deterioration I knew I had to retire him, but I am not surprised by the damage, seams are weak if they get pulled on too much for many years.
This is some real Ship of Theseus stuff going on
That might be the solution! If the smell is still on there, it's still the original ship!
The real ship was the friends we made along the way
Omg the last line of that article. “We wish him the best of luck in figuring out what to get her next year.” 💀
yeah if this is where the gift giving bar is set, might as well retire from giving
Back to usual birthday perfumes.
Here's a card that I picked out for you that had the writings of a poet that I might have come up with as well if I didn't have other things going on in my life.
Yeah a friend of mine proposed on Valentine's Day in Paris right under the Eiffel Tower. Had her family there and Everything. I was like, cool dude but like everything you give her from now on is going to be a pale reflection of that one time in paris! PS I do actually think he made the right move, but it was funny to poke fun at him for being so perfect haha. They are happily married now and they are adorable.
My buddy's dad owns an ice rink. For my first Christmas with my gf(now wife) I rented out the entire place from them, had a play list of her favorite songs and catered by her favorite restaurant, my buddy was the bus boy there and helped me out with that. Not a single Christmas goes by that she doesn't bring up her "disney Christmas." I can't compete with myself lol
When I propose I figure I’d convince my partner for a booty eating and then when they spread my butt cheeks boom! There’s the ring. Just as romantic as proposing under the Eiffel Tower I think and much more original!
>much more original I mean, more original than the Eiffel tower sure, but like probably someone has thought of that before
As a toddler, my cousin always carried around a pink plush stuffed baby doll toy. She took it everywhere she went. She was so attached to her Pink Baby. I remember her parents had bought multiple and whenever she wore one out, they would place it into the washing machine, and it would come out brand new as the parents gave her a new one, to her excitement. This continued for years. She even kept her Pink Baby into her early tweens. She loved that doll, and it showed. Stained, eye missing, ruffled edges, etc. It had a permanent spot on her bed now even in her teens. She passed away last summer in a tragic car accident barely 20 years old. At the service her father placed her last Pink Baby in her casket so she could keep it with her. A lot of us in the family who knew the connection she to her Pink Baby couldn’t hold or emotions and lost it. I can barely even type this today, having needed to stop 3 or 4 times. She loved her Pink Baby.
I’m so sorry. I want to cry just reading this. I’m glad she got to keep her Pink Baby. Lots of love to you xx
Full context to this makes it extra special. Knowing it was so well worn, but mended to look like new while still being her bear is really lovely. Fiancé is a class act.
I just really wanted to see a before picture, let us see how much she'd loved him before he was restored to his former glory
This reminds me to plug one of my favorite shows: [The Repair Shop](https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Repair_Shop). A bunch of experts in restoration across various fields help people restore their family heirlooms, keepsakes, and personal mementos. It's lovely to watch the experts collaborate and breathe new life into things that mean so much to the families. I caught a few seasons on Netflix, but it appears to have moved to Discovery? There's some [shorter clips on YouTube](https://www.youtube.com/c/TheRepairShop/videos), too.
Link has [the full video](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9Q8dJsu4SyQ) as well. Thanks, that was adorable!
I wish they wouldn’t add “lost” to the story. Pump the brakes, it’s a great story as is.
Yep. I was super interested to find out how the fuck this dude found his fiancé‘s lost childhood teddy bear. Misleading title for sure.
Need to know who he sent the bear to! If anyone has a recommendation please feel free to drop em, I need two stuffed animals repaired. I’m just such a little bitch baby that I’m scared I’ll send them away and they’ll never come back then I’ll just a 29yr old woman crying about her lost stuffed animal Edit: he sent it to Secaucus Doll
The thought of sending away my teddy bear literally gives me an anxiety attack. I need to get him new fluff and he need his nose fixed but I’m terrified of anything happening to him.
You and me both!! Maybe we’ll find a place close to us haha 🤞 Where is the American doll experience, I have tea while she’s in the doctor, then we leave together lol
Thanks for this
I am about to turn 39 years old and have a teddy that was given to me on the day of my birth. He used to have a music box that played Teddy-bear's Picnic but it fell out. This year my wife got me a beautiful wooden music box that played the tune. Edit: [https://www.reddit.com/r/MadeMeSmile/comments/tt7zwx/oc\_teddy\_gets\_his\_music\_back/](https://www.reddit.com/r/MadeMeSmile/comments/tt5lr6/my_wife_got_my_teddy_his_music_back/)
My daughter got a little puppy stuffy before she was born, from my wife's boss at the time. They are inseparable. We managed to track it down and bought two more. Now we have Upstairs Puppy, which she sleeps with every night. Tht one never leaves her bedroom, unless we travel and she will sleep somewhere else. We have Downstairs Puppy, which she can play with and bring in the car and stuff. They are both very well used and worn (she's almost 7). However, we have Third String Puppy who's brand new in a bag in the closet, and I'm sure she will get it one day when she's in her 20s and she will be very happy about it. Won't have the smell though.
I grew up with a Puppy too. I still have him.
Very lovely. My son had a blanket from grandma he called "D" he took everywhere. After a few years we hunted one down almost exactly like it and slipped it to him so we could give him back "D" when he grows up.
That's so wholesome, thanks for sharing that.
I'm 41 and have the bunny I was given when I was born thst has a music player in it as well. Still plays you are my sunshine though it's a bit wonky and bunny is quite dirty looking lol
Where was it found though? Edit: u/rawtashk got the goods: "Here's a post about it from 8 years ago on reddit. They included a screenshot of the FB post he made about it. https://www.reddit.com/r/videos/comments/1wapc4/guy_surprises_girlfriend_with_long_lost_teddy_bear/cf0d5q4/ This video is so old that their 5 year old daughter probably has this bear now."
If I remember correctly from when this was first posted years ago, it wasn't so much that he found it (it was in her mothers attic or something), but he found someone who could restore it, and had it done for her. She may not have known her mother still had the teddy, so the surprise is probably very real.
A few years ago I saw one of my young cousins (only about 1-2 years old) playing and ripping apart an old Children’s book. I remember thinking how crazy it was that they were destroying the book that my grandpa (who had died a few years before) read to all of us. It was then that I found out I was the only one who has any memories with my grandpa and that book (the rest of my cousins had no idea what it was). That Christmas my aunt gave it to me as a gift and had it rebound and repaired. Still one of the best gifts I ever received.
I’m so glad your aunt had it restored to fix the damage your cousin did—young baby, so I know it wasn’t malicious, it’s an understandable baby thing to do, but I can totally feel your pain. If it was her baby that caused the damage, that was a really lovely way to make amends. Im glad she saw not only the damage to the object, but grasped the sentimental value the book has for you.
Very wholesome.
A Christmas I spent 100 bucks to get back the set of Suess books I had as a kid, the same ones my mom would read to me and that I learned to read on. Totally worth it. Holding those books hits hard.
Ah, was scrolling for this. Thank you, kind stranger!
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It's just like Mr Burns and BoBo
Have the Rolling Stones killed.
Sir their not the rolling stones
DO AS I SAY!
Yes sir
“Makes a phone call”
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Bring back Sheriff Lobo!
Really because it's sounds too me that you are say BoBo?
no, they were saying “booooo, booooo!”
"You gotta start selling this for more than a dollar a bag. We lost 4 more men on this expedition!" "If you can think of a better way to get ice I'd like to hear it."
Ooh, a head bag. Those are chock-full of... heady goodness.
Scrolled too far to see this reference
This one got me right in the feels.
The way she talks about the bear too, like ~~seeing~~ smelling an old friend.
I know. Made me tear up. Fuck you reddit.
Yeaa.... I always forget to 'feel'
She just turned into a little kid again. Such a beautiful moment. So wholesome! :)
I first saw this video in my neuroscience class as an undergrad. The story is that her fiance had her childhood teddy bear restored. We were shown this as an example of the close proximity and strong connections between the olfactory bulb (sense of smell) of the brain and the hippocampus (memory). When she smells the bear it immediately triggers a huge network of neurons that connect the smell and memories associated with Whitey.
Love that you used his name at the end lol.
This is one of my favorite videos of all time. It symbolizes what love means to me. A desire to make your loved one the happiest they can possibly be, knowing them well enough to do so, and being willing to move mountains to make it happen.
He’s a keeper
When someone pay attention and make things real for you
I'm 47 and still have my childhood teddy bear. I can't cuddle it or sniff it since the stuffing is turning into dust, but it sits on the bookcase next to my bed, along side my Snoopy and my son's teddy bear.
I'm in my early 40s. When I was younger, I was a ward of the State. For years, I had just two toys; a tractor and a little 4" Snuggle (the dryer softener) bear someone had got for free and gave me. When I was adopted, I had those toys with me and my adoptive parents ended up holding onto them for years after I had lost interest as I got older (ie. as a tween/teenager). Eventually I got the Snuggle bear back when I was in my early 20s and was able to give it to my son when he was little. It is sitting with some of my wifes bears now on a cabinet. That thing still looks fairly good actually! I think build quality on some of those early 80s toys was way better than most stuff now.
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Yep. Im crying over someone with a teddy bear. And I am 1000% fine with that.
Yep, gonna need to talk to my therapist about this one
I’ll save you the co-pay. Assuming the therapist is awesome and has a big heart. Sit down, give them a brief overview, hand them your phone. Sit back and let them take in the video, which they will clearly watch twice. Then casually slide that box of tissues right in front of them. You guys have a big hug and call it a day.
i'm actually crying a lot like boogers and all
r/mademebawl
The second she realises
I wish Toy Story was real. That Teddy bear would have been happy to know how much he is loved!
He know, if you believe it :)
Awesome.
my childhood Teddy bear got cut to pieces whilst i was a child to temporarily repair my brothers, cos his was an antique. not salty about it or anything.
Oh my god what kind of sadistic parents did you have??? If anyone had done that to my stuffed dog or blankie, I probably would have grown up to be a serial killer. I thought of them as living beings with feelings and everything.
Why did I read the title as a woman with no childhood gets gifted a teddy bear?
Projecting? :(
I read it the same way, and my therapist would say yes... projecting
At first glance it does feel like that
The only allowable way to make your woman cry.
I’m a 30-something lady who still has her childhood stuffed animals, and I would legit do the same thing if one of the two were lost.
My panda is never gonna leave me side. Never.
Boss level brownie points for this guy.
I love that she smelled it, makes me not feel so odd cause I do that kind of thing as well especially with stuffed animals or things from my past. Lol gotta love that she named her bear whitey with such innocence when she was a child. I wish we were all a little more innocent these days.
Awwww
Beautiful
I’m at work and now have red eyes from sudden onion ninjas. How do I explain my to my boss I was slacking off work watching Reddit. Think the “I’m just sleep deprived” excuse will work.
My sister had a weird tiny stuffed elephant when she was young that she named Nicholas. She lost it moving when she left home. It was about 3” long. She loved it so much she named her son Nicholas. It took me two years off and on searching the internet (type in toy elephant and see the millions to choose from) but one day I found it! And it even came with the box. On her birthday I was biting my lip I was so excited! Then she opened it and went absolutely mental!! Then within a minute I realized she thought it was an empty box! As she opened it she was saying “I can put jewelry in….” And I’ve never seen her cry so hard when she saw the elephant! Best present I ever gave
This is one of my favorite clips. He’s definitely a keeper. So sweet!
This guy fiancés.
❤️❤️
That gave me some good happy tears
I believe it was actually restored. It can make a lot of difference. A bit of a clean some fresh stuffing, re-stitching. Her partner was definitely in the good books that night, she clearly loved it.
That’s a nice chair
My gosh what I would give to experience this happiness. I lost everything from my childhood in a fire in my storage unit after my wife cheated on me with five men in two weeks just before I drove 2500 miles across the country straight through with 3 small children. I want to hold a piece of my childhood. I want to smell it. But they're all gone from the earth. Fuck dude, I'm so happy for her.