Losing a parent is never easy. It is something that has an effect on their child’s life forever. There is a long period of grieving that their children must go through, and even then, it’s something that will follow them forever.
When you are grieving, you also feel the need to latch on to whatever you have left. Whether that is a piece of jewelry, a photo, or a voicemail… You hold onto whatever makes you feel close to that person who is no longer there.
For this young girl, that item was her teddy bear.
Mara Soriano is a 28-year-old storyboard artist who currently resides in Vancouver, British Columbia. She had a teddy bear, from Build-A-Bear, that contained a recording of her late mother’s voice inside of it.
The teddy bear was stolen during a hectic move.
After finding this out, the grieving woman was devastated. This wasn’t just something you can replace, after all. You can’t just get another recording of your mother’s voice in a teddy bear. She felt helpless.
“I keep picturing it in a (trash) bin somewhere,” Soriano told TODAY Parents.
There is some good news though: Soriano was reunited with her long lost teddy bear!
Soriano explained that she had received an email from a man who said that he had “liberated” the teddy bear from a homeless camp’s tent. Naturally, the woman was pretty skeptical and hesitant. Who really trusts a stranger that emails you about a teddy bear?
Nonetheless, she agreed to meet the man at a public spot.
“He just pulled Mama Bear out of his bag, and I just immediately started crying!” Soriano said. “She was wrapped in a handkerchief, and when he unwrapped it, my knees just buckled. … I snatched her out of his arms before he could even fully take her out of the handkerchief, and I just hugged her so tightly.”
It turns out there was no reason to be skeptical. Soriano was finally reunited with her Mama Bear and it was a very emotional moment.
Back in June 2019, Soriano’s mother died of pancreatic cancer. She was 53. She surprised her daughter with the custom-made bear, which included a bunch of messages filled with love and support, just one month before she entered hospice care.
“Some of it is in Filipino. It’s basically, ‘I love you. I’m proud of you. No matter where you are, I will always be with you,’” Soriano explained via TODAY Parents. “I know it’s a bear, but it kinda feels like losing my mom all over again. I feel like I really let her down.”
For a daughter who is grieving, that is certainly not a strange way to feel. Of course she is going to be upset and blame it on herself, which is why it is extra special that Reynolds was able to remedy the situation. Now she could feel good again and not have to go through that feeling of loss a second time!
The thief who stole the bear was caught on security footage. On tape, you can see that he also stole Soriano’s Nintendo Switch and iPad, but if you ask her, she might say the teddy bear was the real prize.
“Those other things that were in my backpack aren’t as important. The bear had a specific message that was just for me,” she told TODAY Parents.
Reynolds, also from Vancouver originally, offered a $5,000 reward for whoever could return the bear.
“Zero questions asked…I think we all need this bear to come home,” the movie star wrote via Twitter.
Other fellow stars chimed in to raise awareness, too — like Dan Levy and Zach Braff. The rest was history after that. They really did make a cyber splash.
“We’ve got people looking into Dumpsters and alleyways because this story is so well-known. All the local shops and restaurants are so eager to help… I’m so floored by all the kindness. This outpouring of support is what’s keeping me together. I feel like the whole world needs this bear back,” Soriano said.
So sweet!
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