Words to Live By

One of my tasks at work today was to take a quote A.A. Milne wrote for Christopher Robin to say to Pooh and make agape for Kairos Outside.  While working on the agape I couldn't help but think back to what Winnie the Pooh has meant to my family.  We did not use the full quote on the agape piece, but the full quote is appropriate here:

“If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together... there is something you must always remember. you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart... I'll always be with you.” ~ A.A. Milne.

When I was pregnant with my oldest I read him "Winnie the Pooh" stories every day.  When I wasn't reading to him Raymond was playing classical music to him.  Then when I was alone I would sneak in some good old rock and roll and country, because after all I wanted him to be well rounded.

I still remember the day Raymond took the oldest for a walk around the block and came back with a stuffed Pooh and a baseball bat they had bought at a garage sale in the neighborhood.  I really freaked out to see that stuffed Pooh, all I could think about was germs, lice, bed bugs, etc.  Of course the toddler boy did not want to give it up to me, but Raymond finally convinced him to let me wash Pooh.  

Pooh was soon a favorite stuffed animal.  My mother, GiGi, even made Pooh a couple of new shirts since the one he had was a little ratty. 

We continued to read Pooh stories, and had a collection of Pooh tapes that would play every night as he went to sleep.  When the youngest came along he was exposed to Pooh too, but he never had the attachment that oldest did to the stuffed Pooh we bought him when he decided he must have one too.

That old Pooh still sits on my oldest's bed, and I am know he still brings him lots of comfort.  

The oldest and I cannot listen to "House at Pooh Corner" by Kenny Loggins without bursting into tears. 

It just brings back too many memories of Raymond. 

Yes, Pooh will always be a big part of our family life.  I am going to repeat the quote here because I think the words in this quote are what I would want my boys to remember if we were no longer together, and I know from my discussions with Raymond that he hoped that the boys would live their lives by these words:

“If ever there is tomorrow when we're not together... there is something you must always remember. you are braver than you believe, stronger than you seem, and smarter than you think. But the most important thing is, even if we're apart... I'll always be with you.” ~ A.A. Milne

I wish my boys still had their Christopher Robin.