Straight from Germany in 1980

by Teresa Billingsley
(Elkhart Indiana USA)

Starting at the begining of the story, that includes all the parts my father loves to tell...My father was in the U.S. Army and stationed in Germany during the last half (and beyond) of my mother's pregnancy with me. He received a call from my mother at the hospital when I was born. After he was first made to do push ups before they would allow him to answer the call, my mother asked him to name me, niether one of them had any ideas for baby names. My older sister was spontaneously named Misty Dawn due to the conditions outside of the hospital on the morning she was born. He some how, out of no where, had quickly come up with Teresa Ann. He was allowed to go into the town of Amberg later that night to buy me a gift. He picked up this adorable little teddy bear, his head can turn all the way around, and his arms, and legs can all move out to the front or back of his body, but not out away from his body. He has a sort of matted light brown fur that's not the softest thing, but it's always been a comfort to me. He also has plastic brown eyes, and a lighter color of a velvety material on the pads of his paws. His nose is black plastic and his mouth is black thread. He fits perfectly in my arm against my chest while I sleep on my side. I toss and turn all night long, but always keep him with me.

I do not know what shop or even what kind of shop he was purchased from. I do not know if he was purchased new or second hand. I do not know what material he is made of either. There is no label of any kind any where on him. He has always had a slightly crooked face, where it looks as if he was on one side for an extended period of time with pressure on his face from the other side. This causes his nose to seem a bit off to one side, though there is no give in the filling that would suggest that his face was any other way, or that it could be manipulated in any way in order to reform it to be more symmetrical.
He has moved almost all the way across the United States of America twice, from Indiana to Washington state and back to Indiana again. He has lived in about 9 different houses, and won a prize for the "most live teddy bear" at a "teddy bear picnic" in kindergarten, where we all brought our favorite teddy bear and all the days activities were planned around them. We sang songs, played games, had lunch with them, and won prizes in several categories.
Thank you for your time.
Teresa Billingsley

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