Fuzzy and the Promise

FUZZY and the PROMISE

How important is a promise?  Especially one made with a little finger hook together and a palm slap.  

That’s major important, more important even than a cross your heart, hope to die, stick a needle in your 

eye promise and we all know how important a cross your heart is.

This story began last summer with just that, a young mother’s little finger promise to her son Foster who’s sixth birthday would be coming up in a few months and this wonderful object was something he “just couldn’t live without”.   Of course, when you make such a promise you need to be able to follow through, and guess what?  This mother couldn’t follow through with it, at least not at the time the promise was made.  She thought she would have plenty of time to save the needed money, but tires had to be replaced, child support only took care of necessities, and of course the time flew quickly by.  When her finances were finally in a position to purchase the subject of her son’s desire the object was nowhere to be found.  The Costco in Vancouver, Washington where Foster first spied the object had run out and no more would be ordered.  Next, the stores in Portland, Oregon were called, “sorry, we’re out too”, the same story was to be told in Seattle, and every other Costco in both Washington and Oregon, finally the young woman resorted to calling on family members in California and on the east coast, again, the same story, NO LUCK! Obviously, this particular item was so wonderful that it had sold out almost immediately and wouldn’t be replaced in any of the Costco’s where it had been originally sold.

“What am I going to do?” the young mother exclaimed to all of her friends, her family, and to all of her Facebook contacts, after all I made a little finger and palm slap promise and I just can’t break that kind of promise. can I?  Foster will be broken hearted, this is all he talks about, he mentions it at breakfast, he talked about it at school, how he would bring it in for show and tell, he’s even cleaned a spot in his room so this wonderful item will have the perfect place to live.

All of the employees at the local Costco were aware of this major promise and how heart breaking it would be if this young mother couldn’t keep her word for her son’s birthday.  An urgent message was sent via e-mail to Costco’s all over the different districts, phone calls were made, is this object pit there?  After all an important promise was made.  But still the object was nowhere to be found.

One of the young woman’s friends just happened to telephone her mother in a small city in Alabama, when her mother said, “I think I saw what you’re looking for at our Costco.”  I’ll go right back and if it’s there I’ll buy it for your friend.”

Lo and behold, one of the wonderful objects was to be found, tucked away in this small Alabama city.  “There was just one”, the friends mother said, so I bought it and will send it UPS right away. “After all a mother’s promise is at stake.”  Finances were arranged and the object of the young boy’s desire was wrapped for it’s trip and put in the dark hold of a large UPS jet to make the long journey from Alabama in the southern part of the United States all the way to Washington State in the far northern part.

When Saturday, the day of Foster’s sixth birthday party dawned the object still hadn’t arrived.  “You go on and take him to his party, I’ll wait for the UPS man to show up, it’s on the tracking papers and should be here today.  As soon as it arrives I’ll bring it on to the party,’ said the young woman’s father.  An hour later the UPS truck drove up, and when the boy’s grandfather went out to meet it he watched the driver searching his truck for the package that was mentioned on the manifest, but the object was nowhere to be found, unfortunately, the paperwork had arrived but the object had been put on the wrong truck.  The object was riding around somewhere else in the State of Washington. 

So, Foster’s sixth birthday came and went, and with a weekend in between by the time the object was found two days had gone by.  A beautiful, shiny red bike, a gift from his grandparents helped ease some of the disappointment, and of course the young boy loved his mother, so he wouldn’t let her know how sad he was about a broken promise. Foster didn’t think about the object much during the day, he was so busy learning to ride his new two-wheeler and was so tired by the time he went to bed that he could only dream about the object that just wasn’t to be his.

The following Tuesday after breakfast, as he had the two previous days he ran to the garage to make sure the red bike was still there and hadn’t been a dream like the object of the promise had been.

“Foster, come upstairs, what did you leave under your covers?”  his mother called down the stairs to him.  “I didn’t leave anything Mom,” the boy said as he hurriedly ran up from the garage and opened the door to his bedroom.   “Well, you’d better pull back the covers and check what’s in there, it looks awfully big to me”, I can’t Mom, you check for me, it scares me, it could be an ET from outer space, cried the boy.  “It’s your bed, so you check it son” said the young mother.  Slowly, Foster crept to the bottom of his bed, grabbed a corner of his blanket, and closing his eyes tightly he yanked as hard as he could.  There, when he slowly peeked out of his half opened eyes, lying half hidden under the edge of his blankets was the object of his desire, a stuffed bear, soft and furry, bigger even than he was.  The object of his mothers promise, the object that had been the answer to a young mother’s prayers, a bear that had traveled all the way from the hands of a caring woman in Alabama, to a little boy in Washington.  A bear whose story touched the hearts of people all over the United States.

“He’s so soft, I’ll name him Fuzzy Bear, I can’t wait to take him for show and tell”.

“and Mom, thanks for keeping your promise, I love you.”