The Saga of Mr. Bear Vol 2

The sad sad story of Mr. Bear continues. As many of you know, Mr. Bear is my son's lovely. He has had a traumatic existence. As soon as he was able, my son started chewing on Mr. Bear’s head and ears. He made a really great teeter. Unfortunately, he developed a nasty odor and an unpleasant brown appearance. I attributed it to the fact that Mr. Bear was becoming partially digested from all the slobber that covered his body. One could pick up Mr. Bear hours later, and he was still a sodden sloppy mess. Once those pearly whites came in, my son moved to the feet and arms.
I tried to solve this problem by soaking Mr. Bear in a variety of caustic baths. I tried using Oxy Clean, vinegar, Tide, and Shout. All these would work with varying degrees of success, but poor Mr. Bear would soon regain his lackluster appearance.
Mr. Bear (and my son) turned two recently. Mr. Bear has not aged well. His ears are threadbare and his legs are tattered. He is missing about 50% of his stuffing. It fell out of his legs.
I did try extreme measures to save Mr. Bear. I performed a rare and dangerous operation. With great care, I extracted the nasty hard stuffing and replaced it with nice soft stuffing. I then sewed up all his holes with precision. I think I took more care than a doctor in the ER.
However, Mr. Bear's fabric was so worn out and threadbare from constant chewing, that he soon ruptured again. His new stuffing became hard and flat again. As the days have gone on, I have watched with a heavy heart the rapid death of a much-loved bear.
Then I panicked. My son won't sleep without Mr. Bear. If he loses him in the middle of the night, I have to rush to the rescue and return Mr. Bear to his empty arms. If Mr. Bear simply disappeared into nothing, my son would be crushed.
I found out that a friend had purchased Mr. Bear from the hospital gift shop where my son was born. One day, I happened to be at the hospital for some minor tests, and decided to swing by the gift shop and see if I could pick up a spare. I looked high and low, and finally asked the volunteer. She informed me that they had stopped carrying that bear. She did tell me that it was made by Russ.
Upon further research, I found out that Mr. Bear was discontinued. I searched the Internet high and low, but all I could find was the same bear, but in pink. I nearly bought pink Mr. Bear, but decided against it at the last minute. I could just see my son throwing a fit because Mr. Bear was not the correct color.
So I thought about drastic measures. I figured I might be able to amputate Mr. Bear’s legs and then sew on new legs. I thought about going to the fabric shop and looking for some velour that matched. But each time, I didn't do it. I knew that if Mr. Bear wasn't exactly the same, my son might reject him.
Finally, many months later I searched the Internet again. Again, I found pink Mr. Bear, this time on Ebay. I was a little disappointed, and thought again of purchasing pink Mr. Bear. Then, out of the corner of my eye, I noticed that the seller had a web site store. When I clicked over, I FOUND MR. BEAR in BLUE!! I made great haste to my Visa card, and immediately ordered the beloved bear.
Now, the challenge that faces me is this. I have to somehow sneak Old Mr. Bear into retirement. I'm thinking I’ll wash new Mr. Bear a few times and then when my son is sleeping gently place New Mr. Bear in his grubby little hands. Old Mr. Bear will be retired.
Will I shed a tear for Old Mr. Bear? Not at all. I'm retiring him to the quiet and peaceful memory box, where he can rest. Old Mr. Bear didn't need an amputation after all which I'm sure he is happy about. Anyway, he can always come out of retirement at a later date, if New Mr. Bear doesn't fulfill his job duties. I just hope New Mr. Bear doesn't mind being wet!

**NEW MR. BEAR ENJOYS A MOMENT OF REPRIEVE BEFORE BEGINNING HIS DANGEROUS WORK**