... and that was how it all began.

He sits on the floor by my bedside these days, my old bear that is. I'll make no excuses, after all, there are none to be made. He'll stay with me until the day either one of us disintegrates into a pile of dust; sometimes that's just the way life is ... don't you think?

Big Ted came into my life on the grand occasion of my first birthday. It was apparent even then, that he was a bear not to be messed with, a bear of significant bearing in fact. He was purchased by my parents while we lived in Africa, and by the age of eighteen months, I had only just grown as tall as my new guardian ... cute kid eh?

Naturally, I'm much older and considerably taller now, and the bear? Well, to say the least, this is one bear with a great deal to answer for ...