Thursday, March 29

Calling Dr. Sandi!

Last weekend, I stopped to see one of my favorite neighbor girls, Sarah. I brought her some Easter socks and she thought they were really cute. Then she whispered in her mom's ear and I heard her mom say "yes" and then Sarah ran to her room and came back with a teddy bear. It was a very tired, injured looking teddy bear. He only had one eye and he had a gaping hole in his neck and at his right ankle (yes, bears have ankles). He had a red bow that was very worn. Sarah asked if I could fix her bear and soooo.........calling Dr. Sandi!! I said yes and brought him home. Here's what the little bear looked like after I washed and mended him. Yep, he made a trip through the washing machine. And then he tumbled in the dryer. He needed a little stuffing, so I plumped him up and stitched his neck and ankle wounds closed. Then I added a plaid bow tie. I had to sort through a lot of buttons to find one that was a close match for that left eye. And so here he is, all clean and sweet..........
I had an extra little fleece blanket that my mother had made so I wrapped the little bear so he would be warm until he could be returned to Sarah. My mom punches holes all around the edge of fleece squares and then begins crocheting a border in the holes. Pretty cool, huh?
This afternoon, I called Sarah's house and left a message ...... "This is Dr. Sandi calling and the patient, little Mr. Bear, has been mended and is fully recovered so you can come by to pick him up". That got a good laugh from Sarah's Dad. :-)  Within an hour they stopped by and here is Sarah, very happy to have her bear.
I asked if the bear had a name and she said it was Corduroy because he looks like Corduroy from the bear books for kids. While the little bear has been around for awhile, Sarah hasn't had him long because he is sort of a "rescue bear". You see, she found him on the street a couple weeks ago. As noted, he was in pretty sad shape but that bath and some stitching and a new eye gave him "new life". Somewhere, it's possible some child is missing a favorite bear but he is now in good hands! This is the third time I have "rescued" a stuffed animal for someone. It's kind of fun. And, so, yes, I think this has earned me the title.......Dr. Sandi, SAR (Stuffed Animal Resuscitator).   :-)
And it also proves that .........
"There is something to love in everyone" ....
just like this cross stitch piece says. My daughter, Collette, stitched this for me several years ago and I love the saying. I wish I knew the designer's name but I don't know where Collette found the design. Anyway, sometimes we are all a little bit worn and wounded but thank goodness there is someone to love us. I think it's really sweet that Sarah loved the worn little bear enough to want to make him well again. Just made me smile to be the one to help that happen.

Have a good day everyone!

Sandi

13 comments:

Cath said...

What a lovely story. Both Corduroy and Sarah seem very happy to have found a new friend. XXX

Leah said...

Great Story, Thanks for sharing it with us. :)

Sarah or Semmy said...

Sandi, This story would make a wonderful children's book. Hint, Hint. You are such a loving, giving person. Thank you for making a child smile. Sarah in OK.

Sandi said...

Sandi,

Isn't it fun helping a child with such a simple thing as a few stitches, some stuffing and a new button.

Several years ago, one of the doctors I work with brought in her son's bear, called Bear Bear in similar shape. I also did a few repairs and got a lovely hand written thank you card from "Louis".

Thanks for having brought that memory back to me.

Sandi H!

Needled Mom said...

Aww....you did such a nice job bringing him back to life too. It reminds me a bit of the movie Toy Story!

Beth said...

That bear looks brand new now! I love the fleece blanket with your Mom's crochet edging around it.
I do think that you are Dr Sandi for sure.

Cheryl's Teapots2Quilting said...

Great job mending Corduroy.

Crafts4others said...

what a cute story. The bear turned out great and love the cross stitch. the bear has no doubt found a forever new home.

Astrid said...

What a sweet story! We all love teddy bears, don't we? It looks great after the 'surgery' and the blanket is just lovely.

Marcia p said...

That is a wonderful story. I wish I would have had a doctor like you for my little blue dog. I did also want to tell you how precious your blog header is. It is nice to have a solid stable family. For now on when I look in the dictionary under family I will see your picture.

Diane Wild said...

I'm so glad to see that there's a specialist around. We need to keep our little stuffed friends in good health.

Wilma said...

Sarah is very happy and you are lovely doctor's bear cotton. Thanks for sharing these great story. And "There is something to love in everyone" ... Beautiful

magicthimblecreations said...

Sandi I just read about Corduroy and Sarah. What a nice story. I was visiting my Aunt Janet oh 20 or so years ago. She showed me a Smokey Bear that she had in her collection of dolls etc. She asked me if I knew this bear. I said yes, but he looked new, not wore out like I gave it to her Daughter. She gave him a wash, repair, new clothes etc. Her daugher and son also loved on Smokey as I had back 55 or 60 years ago. I loved that bear! I know Sarah loves her bear also.

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