Dear Friend,

You might remember me,

As everyone’s favorite punching bag

If life is like a box of chocolate,

Mine is bittersweet

Listen Sweetheart,

Sorry Junior,

No matter how many times you try to hug the life back into me,

I am already dead inside

No matter how hard you squeeze

Or how much you try to pretend that I’m fine

It is going to take a lot more than your sympathy

To make me live again

You can listen with your plastic stethoscope

And CPR the stuffing right out of me,

But it will never stop the pain

 

You see my lungs are too full of sand to breathe anymore

From the time you buried me in the sandbox,

And forgot about me

Remember the time you threw me down the stairs?

Well that was okay, because you liked me better with a blue button for an eye anyway

Or when you left me alone with your dog,

He chewed a hole right through my side

That was fixed after a few stitches though

Well some of us aren’t that lucky

Sometimes there are wounds you just can’t heal

 

Did you really think that you could take infinite hugs without any consequences?

That unconditional love was a one-way street?

Or did you just not care?

Do you know why I made you feel better?

It’s because you felt sorry for me

Because my struggles and my failures made you feel better about yourself

Your own problems

But did you ever ask if I needed a hug?

Ever hold me while I cried,

Or listen to my problems?

 

Of course not

Because I’m the teddy bear

And you could look into my one beady black and one button blue eye,

And see your own reflection,

Not feel guilty

Because I’m a piggy bank for sorrows

And underneath all that pain,

There was no beating heart

 

Well sorry kid,

The Teddy Bear is gone

There’s nothing left for you to take

No buddy home to give you hugs

With nothing in return

And you should know that your Mom threw me out with last week’s egg salad,

And the envelope that your college acceptance letter came in

And by the way congratulations,

No hard feelings,

I’m your pal

 

I’m sorry Jimmy, you can whisper your favorite color to me as many times as you want

But I still won’t remember

And Katie you can tell me that you love me,

But I’ll never be able to trust you

If you need me, I’ll be here

Sending you a hug

From the inside of a garbage truck

 

Your Faithful Friend,

Theodore S. Bear