The Story Behind the Smile

Our recent trip to Disneyland landed us in a nice hotel in Beverly Hills for one night - Friday night of our get away to be exact. Greg has connections, so we stayed in a posh suite that included among other lovely nice things: window coverings that were controlled by electronic switches; TV screens in every room - including the bathrooms - one TV rose from a furniture cabinet; bowls of beautiful, tasty fruit; cup cakes that rested on plates with the word "Welcome" written in chocolate cursive; AND bolster pillows that had the letter "H" embroidered on them. Evan walked in and while looking around could not stop saying "This is ridiculous." Lucky us - it was complimentary.

Once settled in Greg said "Sometimes these places leave things under your pillow." and he checked under his and found nothing. He told me to check under mine. So I did. And sure enough - there was something under my pillow! I pulled it out. This is what I found.


Here's the rest of the story.

Some years ago, when Claire was 3 or 4, Greg took the kids off to the store. It was probably October (my birthday month), or May. They were gone for a little while. On their return, an unhappy Claire came to my room. She was very distraught. "What's the matter Claire?" I asked in my most concerned mother voice (I'd learned by then not to laugh when my kids were upset - usually). Through her tears she asked if she could see my watch. Totally bewildered I told her she could and I showed her my watch. She said "Not that one. Your Winnie the Pooh watch." Even more bewildered I said "I don't have a Winnie the Pooh watch." Claire said, "Yes you do. Daddy just got you one..." In the mean time Greg realized what she was doing and came hurrying into the room, but too late... I think we figured she was so upset because when first asked to pick something out she thought she was picking something out for herself.

So - I received a darling Winnie the Pooh Watch from my kids. I loved it. And I wore it until I don't know...it's a mystery. I don't remember what happened. It must have stopped working. I don't have it anymore which is stranger because I have a collection (not really a collection...) of watches that don't work anymore. I keep them because of who gave them to me. Maybe Winnie got lost? And no, I don't believe Claire has it stashed somewhere.

Fast forward to our Disney trip. We went into a lot of the shops. The story of the watch came up. And by the end of our visit, a new watch had been purchased. I believe Evan is the one who picked it out - he did ask me some questions about watches...

I love my new Winnie the Pooh Watch. The little bees on the face of the watch? they fly around Pooh Bear. It makes me smile.