One Tattered Teddybear's blog: "One_Tattered_Teddybear's Blog"

I wrote this for a very dear man that i had the opportunity to meet at a VA hospital home.  Please remember our fallen this weekend.  Its them that have given us the freedom we so love to this day.  RIP  Bob Rice.

 

I went on a trip one sunny day,

          To a VA hospital where our past hero’s lay.

I walked into a room and to my surprise,

          Was a 70 year old man with a gleam in his eyes.

I went to his bedside for his voice was hard to hear,

          And on his right cheek was a shimmering happiness tear.

It was open house day at the VA to go and spread good cheer,

          And he said was crying, for he had had no visitor’s in over a year.

I pulled up a chair and sat down at his side,       

          We talked for what seemed like hours as he took me on a ride.

A journey back in time when Bob Rice was just a lad,

          And marched through the streets of Eastern Europe with a rifle in hand.

The destruction, the turmoil, the death and the waste,

          As he talked you could see the depression setting upon his face.

He talked about friendships he had made during “THE WAR”,

          And of fallen hero’s in the mud, the guck, and the gore.

How living in trenches, and crawling through sand,

          Were the things that he felt were critical, in making him a man.

Our day together was over, was time for me leave,

          We parted ways saying “I’ll see you next Saturday Eve.”

We spent the next three months sharing some of our tales,

          And became the best of friends though he fought me tooth and nails.

It was another Saturday night, as I made my usual drive,

          But this night would be the last, for his health had taken a dive.

My Friend Bob Rice had passed away, his room was empty now,

          I took the news so badly, asking “When and Why, and How?”

As Bob and I ended each meeting, I gave my final salute,

          In hoping through all the pain I felt this some how would dilute.

So for all those men and women who have worn the uniform before me,

          Today’s your day we all say thanks and Salute you graciously.

If you know one who has served, in times of war and strife,

          Make sure you thank them generously, cause they were willing to give their life.

 

 

 

Happy Memorial  Day Everyone

 

When I was 5 years old my Grandmother gave me a teddybear and a card. In the card she wrote "As you go through life you will go through many difficult times and your family and friends wont always be there to comfort you. But you can take your teddybear anywhere you go. He will always be there when you need a hug, Will always listen when you need to talk, and will never laugh at you when you need to cry". My Grandmother passed away 3 days later after giving me that teddybear. Since then as i have gone through life I have collected teddybears from everyone in my life that has made a difference or a positive influence in my life. That way as i moved around the world with different duty stations, and being deployed around the world i could always take my friends and family with me, or thier teddybear that represented them as a token that kept them fresh in my head. I could pick up any one of them, and it was like a stuffed memory cabinet. All the good times I shared with them came to life when i picked up the teddybear that person gave me. Was a way I could keep a piece of home with me whenever i was around the world serving our country. Nice to have that one thing to hold on to to give you hope in times of trials and long deployments and thats the story behind why i collect teddybears.

I have received a lot of questions as to why the name "One_Tattered_Teddybear". My previous screen name "Elaborate_Horizons" was a good name for me at the time it was created, with the end of my military career coming to an end and a new journey in life beginning. But times changed once I retired from the Air Force. I decided i wanted a name that matched me as a person and what i offer this world of ours. So i asked two people that mean the world to me, and know me better than anyone else on the face of this earth to sit and talk together, and they had to come up with a name they both agreed upon and then tell me why this name fit me. So they set out on their mission of the name change. I had never been so shocked in my life on how the name was presented to me. I all honesty after a week of challenging them and not hearing anything I thought they had given up. Then on the anniversary of my 1 year retirement they threw a surprise party for me and gave me a teddy bear that they had gone to Build a Bear and had made specially for me, and on the birth certificate was my new screen name. So that is how the name came about. Then they told me the reason behind the name was this "I have been one all my life that has put others before myself and try to help everyone in any way i possibly can. I always lend an ear and try to help others with problems whenever I can. That doing the things I do to be a friend I was like a teddy bear that was always there when it mattered". Knowing my love for teddy bears was a perfect fit for me to be one myself. I once wrote a quote that i have kept with me all my life and that was "Teddy bear, Teddy bear, torn and tattered, you were always there when it really mattered." I never thought the words i felt in my heart would one day become the very symbol of how others viewed me. So there is the story behind the name. I am only as good a person as the company I keep, and I have been blessed with some of the most awesome friends. See you in the blog. Your One_Tattered_Teddybear, Steve