Finding Bubba (sort of)

We searched, we cried, we despaired. Charlotte moved forward, comforted us, and occasionally broke our hearts by asking about Bubba.

And then...then one sleepless night I saw a comment from my choirmate Jess asking simply, "Have you checked eBay?" to find a replacement. Philippe had checked eBay, but his search turned up nothing.

My frantic, guilt-ridden, midnight search turned up:

A lot of not one, but two Bubba-twins. The eBay auctioner read my story (I emailed to ask if this really was the same bear and would she compare her picture to ours) and did not charge us for shipping.

And, now we sing (with apologies to The Chiffons): "Our Bubba's back and he's better than ever, hey la, hey la, Bubba's back!"

Charlotte knows that he is Bubba's twin brother (she has only seen one of the bears). We've decided, at her prompting, to pretend he's the real Bubba and tell people that he was on a rejuvenating spa vacation. Wish I could have gone to, he looks great.

Just in the nick of time for the first day of school (yesterday).

Charlotte is happy as a lark. I still cringe occasionally when I see that he's not spit and sand colored. But, my heart skips a beat when I see her holding him upside down, rubbing his tag, sucking her thumb, and sleeping soundly. I wonder at our daughter's resilience and how she handled this loss far better than either of us.

Many thanks to Jess for her thoughtful comment. And to Bizziegram at eBay for her compassion.

"All is right in her little world tonight," I think as I kiss them both good night.