The Bear Blessing

Sally hopped out of bed, full of energy and eager to get her day started. She runs to the bathroom to brush her teeth and comb her long blonde hair. Sally is small for her big ten years of age, but her smile and energy make her stand tall. Pulling on a pair of jeans and a tee shirt, she bounces down the stairs and into the kitchen where her mom is sitting.

“Morning Mom” she chants to her mom, Martha. Not hearing an answer, Sally swings around to see her mother staring at a piece of paper, quiet tears streaming down her face. “Mom, are you okay? Why are you crying? What’s wrong?” Suddenly snapping out of deep thoughts, Martha wipes the tears from her face and quietly speaks “Good morning Sally. Everything is going to be okay. Not to worry. Tell me, what big plans do you have for today?”

“I thought I would go over to the park, but I can stay home if you need me to.” Martha gets up and places a skillet on the stove, slices a pat of butter tossing it in to melt. Four eggs whipped up smooth with a splash of cream, slowly pouring the mixture into the skillet. Popping three pieces of bread in the toaster, she begins to scramble the eggs as they harden. “Sally, set the table and don’t forget the butter and jelly.” “Yes mom” she replies.

Both sit down to enjoy breakfast. Sally happily kicking her feet back and forth and Martha lost in her thoughts. Martha lays down her fork, finishes her coffee and stands up “I need to get ready for work, be back in a minute.” “Okay mom” Sally replies.

Martha leaves the kitchen and heads to her bedroom upstairs. Sally hears the shower turn on and she reaches for the piece of paper her mom had been looking at. It was a bill from the nursing home where her grandmother had passed away. Clipped to the bill was a note. Sally began to read the note:

“Dear Ms. Gooding,

We are sorry for your recent loss. Unfortunately, there is still a balance due of $20,000 and we have waited six months. If we do not receive your remittance in fourteen days, we will be forced to begin proceedings to recover the monies which includes the home you now reside in.

Sincerely,

Paul Ratcliff, Administrator

Sally hurriedly placed the paper back the way it was and begins to clear the table. Her mind was working quickly. “What were they going to do. They had just moved into this house after grandma went to heaven. It had been an answer to their prayers. Why was God taking it all back?” Questions one right after another tumbled through her mind and she stiffened so as not to cry.

Martha came back in to say good-bye. “Have a good day at the park. Be sure and call me every two hours, okay?” “Promise mom” Sally quietly spoke so as not to give away her feelings.

Thirty minutes later Sally walked the two blocks to the park. She loved the park – a place where she can run and swing. A place where she talks to God in her own innocent way. But today she walked slowly, feeling the weight of the world as she knows it crashing around her.

Walking past the swings, Sally finds a bench away from people and lays across the seat. She begins to sob, tears streaming as she begins to God. “Dear God, why are we losing our house again. You got my grandma and I got to live in her house. Now I am losing that too. I know mommy is sad as she loves it here too.” As she continues to cry and try to figure things out in her mind, she never saw the woman approaching.

“Hello Sally. Why are you crying?” the woman asked. Sally sits up and standing in front of her is a tall slender woman dressed in all white and crimson red hair. “Who are you and how do you know my name?” The woman simply smiles, a smile that suddenly fills the air with warmth and comfort and Sally begins to relax. “My name is Gloria and I am here to help you.” Sally began to tell Gloria the story about her grandma, her mom and her new house. And then she told her what she saw on the note that morning.

“Are you an angel?” Sally asks. The woman smiles and replies “No Sally, just someone who not very long ago was in fear of losing everything. Here, please take this.” Gloria hands Sally a pure white teddy bear with a big purple bow tied around its neck. Sally took the teddy bear from Gloria, it was so fuzzy and soft and instantly she felt better. “Now I want you to take the bear home and show it to your mom. Tell her there is a gift inside the bear just for her.” Sally smiled, suddenly feeling like everything was going to be okay. “Oh yes Gloria, thank you so much!”

Almost skipping, Sally heads home clutching the beautiful teddy bear that Gloria had given her. It was time to call her mother to check in. “Hi Mom! You will never believe what happened. I met this woman named Gloria. She appeared like magic and she gave me a bear and she said inside there is a present for you." Martha hearing the excitement in her daughter’s voice asked a couple questions about the ‘woman’. “Okay honey! Why don’t you stay home and I’ll be home right after work. Love you!”

Sally curled up on the sofa keeping her teddy bear safely close to her and turned on the TV. The hands on the clock were moving so slow, she just wanted her mom to come home. Eventually she fell asleep.

Suddenly she heard the door open. She sat straight up and there in the doorway was Mom. Martha smiled at the sight of her daughter clutching this teddy bear. She walked over and sat down next to Sally. “Now what do you have here?” Sally beamed as she pushed out her arms out with the bear, “Mom you have to look inside and see what Gloria sent you!”

Martha took the bear and began to squeeze the bear to see if she could feel anything inside. Suddenly she felt a spot that was hard, so she began to examine the area closely. Hidden below the white fur was a zipper about three inches long and she quickly unzipped it. Gingerly she began to feel inside and pulled the object out. There was a note wrapped around a tiny black book. She set the book aside and unfolded the note and began to read:

‘A blessing for the reader, of someone who’s in need. Just follow these instructions and a blessing you’ll receive.

Inside the book are numbers, and each one needs a call. Your name and address you will give, until you’ve called them all.

Be mindful and respectful, calling each one by their name and when your job is done, replace this note and book exactly from where it came.

When the day does come that you shall meet that person who is in need, gift them this bear and blessing, passing forward is the greatest gift indeed.’

Martha smiled as she folded the note and went back to the kitchen to start supper. Pork chops and fried potatoes on the menu tonight as she continued to think about the note. “Sally set the table please” she yelled to her daughter. Sally ran to the kitchen, carrying the bear and the black book. She set the book on top of the paper that had made her mother cry that morning. Busily she went about setting the table. Dinner was ready. “Mom, are you going to do it? Please mommy, I know we are in trouble and I don’t want to leave.” Martha smiled and gently patted Sally on the head “Never worry Sally, I know everything will be okay."

They ate their dinner silently, Sally’s eyes watching the little black book on the table. Finally it was time to clear the table and Sally hopped up from her chair to help her mom. Mom always washed and she dried. Done.

Martha finally sat down and reached for the black book. She opened it to the first page and all that was written was “Miss A” and a phone number. She quickly thumbed through each letter of the alphabet and on each page was simply a letter with the proper salutation.

She picked up the phone and dialed the phone number listed for Miss A. “Hello Miss A. My name is Martha Gooding and my address is 4573 Elm Street, Central, Illinois 62721.” Martha held her breath for a second and finally heard a tiny voice reply “Hello Ms. Gooding. You are blessed” and she hung up the phone. How odd she thought, this really is very silly. How is this going to help my situation she thought.

Looking up at Sally, seeing the hope in her daughter’s eyes, decided to continue. She dialed the phone number for Mr. B and repeated the same words as before. Just as before, the voice answered with “Hello Ms. Gooding. You are blessed” and then the phone went dead. Martha continued through each page as Sally sat there and watched until she had dialed every name/letter in the book. Three hours later she had finally finished her task with Mr. Z. Sally wrapped the note around the little black book and placed it back inside the teddy bear and zipped it up tight.

“Okay bedtime Sally. Go brush your teeth. I’ll be right up.” Sally skipped up the stairs and hurriedly got ready for bed as Martha came into tuck her in.

The next morning, Sally hopped out of bed and ran down the stairs. “Did anything happen?” she asked. Martha replied “Nothing yet. I’m not sure what is supposed to happen Sally, but I need to get ready for work.”

The day passed just as so many summer days had this year with nothing different. Two days went by and everything seemed normal. On Saturday, three days later, Sally was about to give up that this Teddy Bear was going to help keep her house, she heard the doorbell ring. “Mom! Someone’s at the door!” she yelled. Martha went to the door and there stood the postman. "Hello Ms. Gooding, I have some mail that needs to be signed for." “Oh no” that little voice rang in her head. “I am being sued” she thought.

Martha reached for the pen and signed her name. The postman handed her a stack of twenty-six letters. Martha could not help but gasp.

Trembling she thanked the postman and walked over to the sofa to sit down. Quickly glancing through the envelopes at return addresses, each one was labeled Miss A, Mr. D, Mrs. T and every letter was represented.

Her hands were shaking as she opened the first letter. She opened the note and a $100 dollar bill fell out. Tears began to run down her face. The note read “You are blessed. Pass it on.” Each envelope contained the same letter and each one contained various amounts of money in $100 dollar bills. Martha stacked the money as she opened each envelope. The pile was growing quickly. She could barely see as the tears were flowing heavily.

Sally watched as her mother counted the money. “Oh! what a blessing Sally! We can live here forever!” she cried, “this is exactly what we need - $20,000.00.”