Spreading Joy through Bears
Hardees on Harper Road in Beckley, WV has many regular patrons, but few may be as interesting as the lovely lady my son and I met there this morning.
She sat at her table, in a corner, first praying long and sincerely, then slowly munching away at her breakfast sandwiches, a twinkle in her eye as she would randomly reach over and push the head of the Pooh bear on her table. The Pooh, dressed in a Tigger suit, would then mumble and hop around in Tigger fashion.
My son, of course, watched wide-eyed, glancing up at me and saying "Mommy, can I? Can I go see the bear?"
To which I would reply "You need to eat your food first".
At least my son had consumed what I determined to be a reasonable amount of his fast-food breakfast (not something I would normally choose to do, but we were forced to stop and let my car cool off before limping the few miles back to the house) and I looked over at the bear lady, to see if she would welcome the attention. She was smiling brightly and giving a small nod of encouragement, so I told my son it was "OK" for him to go over and see the toy.
He giggled and squirmed with excitement as she taught him to push the bear's head to make it hop around. She then, in a rather off-hand manner, asked my son if he would like a bear of his own. "It doesn't hop or do anything though," she warned him, "it just wants to be snuggled".
While I think my son was really hoping for the hopping Tigger-Bear, he happily agreed to taking home a new friend.
The lady went out to her car, which I later learned is called 'The BearMobile" and retrieved a rather large genuine Pooh Bear for my son to cuddle. He thanked her and gave her a hug, and she began to tell about her story (which I asked if I could share online and she agreed).
She said that her name is Merry McKnight, also known as Merry Merrybear.
During a long bout of depression, Merry's only friends were her bears, and she ended up with quite a few. She said she used to be very possessive of her bears, not wanting to even let other people touch them, but just a little less than a year ago, last November, she says that she 'let the Lord into her life' and everything changed for her.
During the last year, Merry became inspired to start spreading love and joy by sharing her most precious possessions, her bears, with others who need their friendship. She has given away over 6000 bears in the last year, and still has 2-3000 of them at home. Her car is also padded with furry, bright-eyed passengers who sometimes find new homes as they travel with her throughout the day.
Merry has donated bears to homeless shelters, hospitals, wherever she has felt a need. Merry's bears have traveled all over the world and touched hearts everywhere she has gone.
Merry said that she chose bears as her companions, originally, because they are strong, powerful creatures that show a great love and kindness toward their children.
Merry Merrybear is a resident of Beckley, WV and her work and love is an inspiration to us all.
To contact Merry, send her an email at polarmomma88@msn.com
She sat at her table, in a corner, first praying long and sincerely, then slowly munching away at her breakfast sandwiches, a twinkle in her eye as she would randomly reach over and push the head of the Pooh bear on her table. The Pooh, dressed in a Tigger suit, would then mumble and hop around in Tigger fashion.
My son, of course, watched wide-eyed, glancing up at me and saying "Mommy, can I? Can I go see the bear?"
To which I would reply "You need to eat your food first".
At least my son had consumed what I determined to be a reasonable amount of his fast-food breakfast (not something I would normally choose to do, but we were forced to stop and let my car cool off before limping the few miles back to the house) and I looked over at the bear lady, to see if she would welcome the attention. She was smiling brightly and giving a small nod of encouragement, so I told my son it was "OK" for him to go over and see the toy.
He giggled and squirmed with excitement as she taught him to push the bear's head to make it hop around. She then, in a rather off-hand manner, asked my son if he would like a bear of his own. "It doesn't hop or do anything though," she warned him, "it just wants to be snuggled".
While I think my son was really hoping for the hopping Tigger-Bear, he happily agreed to taking home a new friend.
The lady went out to her car, which I later learned is called 'The BearMobile" and retrieved a rather large genuine Pooh Bear for my son to cuddle. He thanked her and gave her a hug, and she began to tell about her story (which I asked if I could share online and she agreed).
She said that her name is Merry McKnight, also known as Merry Merrybear.
During a long bout of depression, Merry's only friends were her bears, and she ended up with quite a few. She said she used to be very possessive of her bears, not wanting to even let other people touch them, but just a little less than a year ago, last November, she says that she 'let the Lord into her life' and everything changed for her.
During the last year, Merry became inspired to start spreading love and joy by sharing her most precious possessions, her bears, with others who need their friendship. She has given away over 6000 bears in the last year, and still has 2-3000 of them at home. Her car is also padded with furry, bright-eyed passengers who sometimes find new homes as they travel with her throughout the day.
Merry has donated bears to homeless shelters, hospitals, wherever she has felt a need. Merry's bears have traveled all over the world and touched hearts everywhere she has gone.
Merry said that she chose bears as her companions, originally, because they are strong, powerful creatures that show a great love and kindness toward their children.
Merry Merrybear is a resident of Beckley, WV and her work and love is an inspiration to us all.
To contact Merry, send her an email at polarmomma88@msn.com