Zada meets Zaeda

Zada, my grandmother, met her great-granddaughter Zaeda for the first time this past weekend. It was nice to visit with her and she brought with her a special gift for Zaeda—her first teddy bear. My grandfather (we called him Poppy) gave each of his children, grandchildren and great-grandchildren their first teddy bear. I may not get all the details of the story behind this tradition right and I apologize in advance. When Poppy was a little boy he almost died. His family had forgotten to bring his teddy bear with them to the hospital so a nurse who had taken to him, purchased a teddy bear for him. Poppy passed away this past December and it was a little heart-breaking to know that Zaeda would never meet her great-grandfather and that he would not be here to present her with this gift that has been a tradition in my family. He did know that I was expecting when he passed away. When I talked to my grandmother a few days after Zaeda was born, she mentioned that there had been some cash in my grandfather’s wallet when he passed away. She had wrestled with what to do with it and finally decided that it should be used for Zaeda’s first bear. Here she is with her first teddy bear. They are about the same size. -Jenny