The Pink Teddy Bear of Victory

My earliest memory is of this pink teddy bear. My father’s co-workers pooled their money together to buy it for my older sister.



Heather contracted bacterial meningitis when she was three. Her condition worsened rapidly, and doctors feared that she wouldn’t live through the night. My mother remembers that they let me into the room to see her. Heather was poofy with steroids, and I ran to her, trying to say her name. “Heaf-her! Heaf-er!” I cried. My mom remembers that the nurses were crying, too, at what they thought might be our last good-bye. Heather put her arms around me, and said “It’s okay. It’s okay.”

Thankfully, Heather lived. The doctors called her a “miracle baby.” Seeing this picture always reminds me of how close we came to losing her, and how grateful I am to have had such a wonderful friend all these years.