"From Ryan"

This past Saturday, Mike and I ran numerous errands that made the day a perfect family outing sort of day. And even though my little Ryan wasn't sitting in the back seat, strapped into his car seat and enjoying the stops along the way, he was definitely with us in spirit.

One of the errands was to get my rings checked at the jewelry store. I've got a life-time warranty on my bridal set, as long as I have my rings checked every six months. It's usually a very uneventful visit - I window-shop while the clerk checks that the settings on my rings are intact and stable - but Saturday's visit was a little different.

As I was moving from one display case to the next, admiring the stunning pieces of jewelry I can only dream of owning, I suddently noticed this white, wintery-looking stuffed bear that was displayed throughout the store. He was wearing a knit cap with matching mittens and he had many "twins" who were as equally cute and cuddly.

I stood by one of these bears, stroking its little paw, wondering what its significance would be in here, in a store like this. Certainly didn't seem like the sort of place to purchase a stuffed bear!

As I was getting acquainted with this little bear, I heard Mike's voice in the background, involved in a conversation with the clerk who was checking my rings. My feeling was that something was wrong with my rings, but as I got closer to the two of them, they were actually talking about the bears.

The clerk explained that these bears are part of a holiday "drive." When one of these bears is purchased, the proceeds go to the children's ward at the local hospital. But, you can also donate the bear and include a personalized "To/From" tag with it. Mike and I were all over this idea since we saw first-hand during our many trips to the NICU to visit Ryan, which took us through the children's ward, that these kids have a really rough time with their illnesses, let alone how difficult and lonely it must be for them to be hospitalized during the holidays.

We purchased our bear and decided he'd have a happy home in the warm embrace of a child at the hospital. When the clerk handed Mike the gift tag to fill out, I knew instantly that I wanted this bear to be from Ryan. It didn't matter that we wouldn't know which child received this bear. To me, it only mattered who it was from.

As if he had plucked the idea from my head, Mike wrote "From Ryan" on the gift tag and looked at me with a half-smile, waiting for my approval. In my usual sappy fashion, I burst into tears in the middle of the store, but managed to give my seal approval with a nod of my head.

Once we attached the gift tag to the bag, we slid the fluffy bear inside the bag and placed everything in the donation box below the cash register. The clerk gave me my rings - which were checked out just fine - and Mike took my hand as we walked out of the store, with me still sniffling and wiping my eyes.

I guess it ended up being a good family day after all.