Teddy bears are a tremendous contributor to the quality of life, allow me to relay some of the reasons why they are so important.

Gifting For any occasion where a gift is involved you have a "giver" and "receiver."  Often times, depending upon the relationship, the proper gift is difficult to determine. The gift you select may be more for you than for them. It may be too personal or impersonal. We end up giving cash or a gift card but it still is something that at least shows that we care.

Much depends on the relationship, but in the end, whether you have been married 44 years like Brenda and I, or are in a brand new friendship, there is one gift that NEVER misses.  Drum roll . . . The Teddy Bear!

Ken's Illness and Recovery - Teddy Bear's Love Helped!

Teddy Bears in Our Lives:

Allow me to randomly pick just a few of the short stories from the last few weeks of my life.  

A team of Vascular Surgeons worked on me several hours. I had been diagnosed earlier that day in emergency situation with an abdominal aorta aneurysm.  My favorite number is seven but my aorta was measured a 7.5" and it was a life or death surgery.

Southwest General Hospital's Dr. Rogers and Dr. Plecha are a renowned team and I placed 100% confidence in their efforts.

Upon awakening very late Monday night to find I was alive and on the mend, my thoughts turned to the hospital surgeons.

I was, and am so grateful to these surgeons that I wanted to do something special for them.

I asked Brenda to bring two of the special red Good Bears of the World bears called Ruby wrapped in gift bags to give to them.

It was the first and only gift that came to mind.

Red for heart and vascular and GBW for love and outreach. Ruby was especially appreciated by these two vascular stalwarts.

Brenda brought me home from the stay in the hospital and within moments we had a delivery at the front door.

It was a brightly colored, wonderful teddy bear dressed in a surgical gown, sporting a crutch and it was signed by the bear maker.

A lovely and thoughtful gift from your four sons: Brian Barry, Craig and Kyle. What a spirit lifter!

This gift was followed the next day by our twins, Brian and Barry, arriving home from Washington DC to spend the first days of my recuperation with me.

Teddy Bears bring together the great Teddy Bear people and if you are reading this now, you are one of them! The cards, both e-cards and snail mail (still my favorite), have been such ray's of sunshine during this dismal winter recovery period. I can not emphasize too much the importance of sharing.

Shared sorrow, is 1/2 the sorrow. Shared joy is TWICE as much joy.

Teddy Bears Are Real - Not a Wii World Bear

1.  The antique bears that are so admired and are real.  I would not pay $10,000 for an electronic image of a teddy bear unless they presented the real thing to me later and of course it was one we did not have.

2.  Our childhood teddy bears, which we treasure and want our progeny to enjoy, are three (or four) dimensional.

3. Teddy bear artists create tangible artwork and it is the art and artist which tell the story that we buy and love.

4.  Wisdom is real, rare and tangible. I can professionally evaluate anything via a photo but my best work is seeing the person with their bear and imparting personal thoughts as well. The social aspect is so underrated!

God Bless you all and 'Thank You' for being a part of my world; the Teddy Bear World.

Ken Yenke

Appraiser & Features Writer

Member since March 2007

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