Bunky Bear
Life, Memories, Pictures February 6th, 2008I am 20 years old and I have been sleeping on the same pillow my whole life. It is a rectangular pillow with a bear’s face and ears, arms, and legs sticking out of it. Above its nose–which is above a smiling mouth–is a bumble bee, which it is looking cross-eyed at. By his collar, he has a flower-shaped name tag: Bunky Bear. At the bottom, it has a forest scene complete with a momma bird wearing an apron and her two babies, a butterfly, a strawberry-carrying rabbit, another bee, a mouse, a spider web… It says “Sleepy Hollow is the path to follow where dreams come true for a bright tomorrow” and is signed Enola 1987.
On his right arm, he wears a friendship bracelet that I won on the last day of 3rd grade that he has worn since then. He has stitching below his right ear, holding his right arm on, down the side of his right arm, in between his legs, in the picture beside the spider web, and in the picture beside the mouse where he has had “surgery” throughout the years to keep him together. I use him as my pillow every night. If I go on a trip, he’s brought along. When I’m not sleeping, Bear sometimes uses him as a pillow, etc.
Because of his worn-down state, I’m at a crossroads and am honestly not sure what to do. Do I keep using him as a pillow until, one day, he is too broken to use? And then keep him stored away safely? Or do I put him away now while he looks a little better? No matter what, I’ll never throw him away. When I do put him away, maybe sit him somewhere in my room so he’s not just thrown in a box in an attic and never seen. I know it sounds weird because he’s a pillow but he’s not JUST a pillow to me. He’s Bunky Bear.
I mean, what do you do with a pillow? You hug and cuddle it at night. You cry into it. You see it every night at the end of the day. Imagine all of that into one pillow every night for 20 years. Ugh. It’d be weird not to have him to sleep on. He adds a sense of home and comfort… 
What should I do?
(Ps. I’ve tried finding other hims online but no trace of it…)
February 6th, 2008 at 11:37 pm
Let it stay on the bed, but only as a decorative (and let Bear know that it’s to be left alone) or somewhere on a shelf? And then again you could use it until you couldn’t anymore and then safely put him somewhere secure.
I’ve never been attached to anything for that long but have heard of how others have. My sister had a this orange blanket that she would cry for if she didn’t have, even if it was gone for washing. She would go to public places with it towing around even years later. In the end, she let it be donated to charity. My friend had a very old shirt that she kept when she was little even after she had grown out of it. Years later, she converted it to a tiny table cloth for her bedside table. o_o
February 27th, 2008 at 8:47 pm
I agree with the other person, stop using him as a pillow, buy a new one, and keep him for decortive purposes only so this way you know he’s still there.