Wrecked by Pooh

     When I first heard that Disney was making the movie Christopher Robin featuring my very own childhood buddy, Winnie-the-Pooh, I was beyond giddy. Like a child anticipating the arrival of Christmas, I could barely contain myself. Yes, now. At 47 years old.

     One of my most beloved childhood memories is that of my Pooh bear. While I didn't have the encompassing adventures that Christopher Robin did, I most certainly had a friend in Winnie-the-Pooh. My treasured Pooh bear heard many secrets, absorbed myriad tears.

     Over the years my Pooh bear became tattered and worn. A torn shirt, soiled "fur," a bit of stuffing emerging from one of the seams, and eventually, a missing eye. And still, I held on to my precious Pooh bear. Love doesn't let go.

     When I got married nearly 30 years ago, Pooh bear came with me. But as I began to settle into my new life and make a home for my family, my bear friend was deposited into a cedar chest.

     As the years went by, one decade turned into two, and as our family grew so did the amount of stuff we accumulated. And so on a major "cleaning out" day, I let go of my beloved yet battered Pooh bear. I threw him away.

     When I went to see the recently released Christopher Robin movie, I expected to feel a bit sentimental, emotional even. What I didn't expect was to be wrecked by Pooh.

     Oh. My. Word. The tears. A waterfall was born in the theater that night. And when Pooh said to Christopher Robin, "You let me go," it was my undoing. I did the whole bite-your-knuckles-so-you-don't-gasp-for-air thing. Any makeup I wore into the theater did not make its way out on my face. Thank goodness I had the foresight to forgo the mascara.

     Crying buckets, I silently told my Pooh bear how sorry I was for letting him go, for losing sight of what's important. There's some real vulnerability going on here, folks. Which, in fact, is my point.

     Let's all be real. No more pretending. No more faking it. Throughout the movie, this "bear of little brain" exhibits extraordinary wisdom as he conveys to Christopher Robin the importance of the simple things, of putting those we love first, of not letting go of what's truly significant in this life. Every moment is a never-before and never-since moment that should be embraced for the miracle it is.

     All these years later, I once again fell in love with Pooh bear--his soft-spoken gentleness, his witty words of wisdom, his lifestyle of living in the moment, his forgiveness of being let go. And I felt the smattering of grace that covers one like the honey Pooh ate with such love and appreciation.

     Pooh knew how to pick up where they had left off all those years ago, how to love as though he'd never been let go of in the first place. I was determined to do the same. I was reminded once again to embrace the simple things in life and to let go of what has no eternal value. And perhaps most importantly, I embraced the little girl in me and laughed with her.

     I left that movie theater emotionally spent, yet fully content. Tears emptied; heart full. Childhood memories brought full circle. Beauty revealed in a little stuffed bear. It doesn't get any simpler than that. I was wrecked by Pooh, and to my beloved Winnie-the-Pooh I say, "Thank you."