My Favorite Cuddle Buddy

It was my freshman year. I had been at Ohio Northern University for a few weeks and was loving every minute of it. Every once in a while, I would get pretty homesick and call home to my mom. It wasn’t too long before my RA came to knock on my door and gave me a large brown paper bag. I had no idea what it could be. Stapled to the front of it was a note from my mom.

                

“Keep up the hard work at school. Dad and I are so proud of you. Study hard and have fun. Learn lots, be safe and we’ll be home when you get home.”

Tears sprung into my eyes. That was the saying that mom had said to me since my first day of kindergarten. I ripped open the bag and inside was a James F. Dicke College of Business Administration t-shirt and a stuffed polar bear. I instantly called home and thanked my mom. The bear and shirt was a marketing club fundraiser that snagged mom’s attention during freshman orientation. I cried and thanked my mom a million times.

To this day, I still sleep in my DCBA shirt. As for my polar bear, I named him Paws. He is a stuffed bear, but his paws have beans in them, making them a little bit heavier than the rest of his body. I truly love my bear, Paws. He has traveled the country with me since freshman year. He has been to Cincinnati, Columbus, Cleveland, Orlando, Florida and San Antonio Texas. He has traveled on a plane, in a car and on a bus. My faithful traveling companion always goes along with me on my adventures. He even gets cuddling preference over my boyfriend.

Paws has been with me through breakups and celebrations. He goes wherever I go and he is always the first item in my bag when I go home. My mom finally took him and washed him without me knowing this past summer. He smells amazing now, and his fur is white and fluffy again. On one of his back paws he has a rip starting to form. I’m going to have to ask grandma for some help with that one.

This is Paws and me at Cedar Point this weekend!

It seems silly to be a senior in college and sleeping with a stuffed animal. I just can’t help it. Paws is my security and the only constant in my life. I love feeling like a little kid and cuddling up with Paws after a long day at school. I know that as long as Paws’ stuffing and beans don’t fall out, he will be forever my cuddle buddy and confidant.