What Color is Love?

This post was partially inspired by a recent article I read about what to do with the stuffed bears outgrown from childhood. I don't recall ever having a bear or anything else I was really attached to. That is really sad considering I had major surgery when I was a child. That could help explain why I grew up having a life challenge of learning to accept love. I must confess I really didn't know much about the subject as I reached adulthood.

Although I had little personal experience with childhood bears, I was allowed to eavesdrop on my grandson's experience with a special bear in his life. I purchased this perky little fellow at a yard sale my daughter and a friend were having. The bear in question was brand new and Colin was between two and three. I loved both the bear and the kid, now nine, at first sight!

My daughter was not pleased with my purchase, even though Colin obviously loved his new floppy friend. The first thing out of her mouth was, "It's pink!" It's pink and blue, I corrected. As you can clearly see from the above photo, he has an equal amount of both colors. From that day on, Colin's mother refused to allow him to take the bear out in public. What would people think!

From that day on the bear, which I always allowed to travel with Colin in my car, was referred to as "car bear". It stayed in my house when it's owner wasn't around. It kept Colin company on nights he slept over at my house, was fed cereal at make believe picnics in my living room, accepted rides in a little plastic wagon, was sometimes transformed into a beanbag and always gave as much love as it received.

Recently Colin was visiting for the day and decided to retrieve his old stuffed animals, still stored in the little plastic wagon. I watched with amusement as he picked them up one by one and either discarded or kept them. The treasured car bear was of course, put in the keep pile. His fate will be decided some other time.

Days later I was thinking about the special pink and blue bear that had given and received so much love from an equally special little boy. I realized that parents need to mind their own business and let their children choose for themselves. I also realized that love can be any color we want it to be!