loved

I came across this picture of 6-month old Teg, and I marveled. Not because of her cuteness, or how little she was and how fast 5 years has gone, nor because of a similarity to Declan - although each of those deserves a little marvel.

I marveled because this is the youngest picture of Teg I have with her loving her bear Bernie, who has been her most beloved childhood companion and will ALWAYS represent Teg's little years to us.

I pulled the picture up to show Teg this morning. "Look!" I said. "Look how fluffy and new Bernie looked then!"

Teg replied: "Yeah, look how white he was." And then after a pause she added: "That was before he was loved."

He has been one well-loved bear. And here is a photo of them together before bed this evening. As you can see, the loving continues.