A LASTING MEMORY

On Saturday, June 23rd, 2001, Sheldon, Nikolas and I headed on a journey to Clackamas, Oregon.  There in Clackamas Town Center Mall is a store called Build-A-Bear Workshop.  We had decided to have Darious' urn placed inside a bear and sewn closed.  We had called the store ahead of time to see if they would be able to handle our request.  They said it wouldn't be a problem. We were greeted by Kris who handled everything for us.  She was absolutely wonderful.  We chose the perfect bear and than she stuffed the urn securely so that it wouldn't move around.  She even had me hold the bear first to make sure that I couldn't feel the urn from the outside.  All three of us were each allowed to place a red satin heart inside the bear.  We each kissed our hearts and made a special wish.  Than Kris hand sewed the back of the bear. While we were finding the perfect sweater for our bear, Kris came over and thanked us for sharing this special moment with them.  She and the other employees were so touched by our sweet little Darious that they all asked to donate to pay for the cost of our beautiful bear.Sheldon and I have been touched so much by kindness and generosity through this whole experience.  We are so grateful. The last step was to name our precious bear and register him in the Build-A-Bear Registry.  This was really hard because even though the bear held our most precious son, we did not want to refer to the bear as our son.  So, after flipping through pages of names we came across "LoveBug".  This is actually a nickname we have had for both of the boys, but it seemed so fitting for the precious bear.  After a wonderful couple of hours we were off to take our bear home.  Thank you again to everyone at Build-A-Bear Workshop - Clackamas who made a really hard decision turn into a very lasting memory. I can honestly say that having LoveBug has helped me so much.  On those days when I just want to hold my precious baby I can pick up the bear, rock him, talk to him, sing to him......anything.  It has truly helped me in my healing. I know it will be a while before I can hold my precious baby again, but this has helped fill my empty arms on those empty, lonely nights. Below are a few pictures from that special day and of our special bear!!  We even had family pictures taken in August, 2001 with the bear.  Sheldon wasn't sure about that at first, but since we had not been able to take family pictures while Darious was with us, this was a way to include him forever in our family.

Build-A-Bear Workshop - Clackamas, OR

Nikolas w/his bear, Casey, and LoveBug at the top of the stroller.

Nikolas and Mommy picking out a sound box for his bear.

Family Picture (August 2001)

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