A long time ago in the land of fluff and stuff, there was a simple toymaker who people say was the most renowned toymaker who had ever lived. However, he never worked for the big toy stores in the city or country villages. Not even for the jolly elf, Santa, who lived in the far North country. He lived in the lowliest of low places. Some say he had burrowed himself into a home in the hillside and scratched out a living by making toys. Some say they are the best toys anyone has ever seen. He made farm animals, structures, and windmill villages that boggled the mind.
But, of all the toys he ever made, he was best known for his teddy bears. His bears were made with a magical ingredient. Love. “Every bear I make,” he gently exclaimed, “I make with the love in my heart.”
When he was younger, the toymaker was allowed by his family to love them with every ounce of his being. He had three children, a wife and a dog named Skip. He deeply loved them with all his heart and soul, and they, in turn, cherished him back. As his family went out into the world, they too loved in the same manner. Onlookers thought this strange because, as everyone knows, you can’t trust love. Love is too fickle, fraudulent, and frail to hold up against any danger or threat.
But, love unconditionally, the man did. Even when things around him seemed to go astray, his passion shone like a lone beacon of light in the vast darkness of night.
Eventually, as time wore on, the man became aged. As he did, his family began to wither away. First, Skip the dog died, then the oldest child, his wife, and, unfortunately, his last two children could not stand the test of time. He buried them alongside the other members of his family.
Still, after all this, his heart, in fact his entire body, remained filled with love, a love that he needed to share. So, he began making toys, lots and lots of toys. Eventually, he had made so many toys that he ran out of places to put them and began placing them outside his house. Children started to come by and play with the toys.
One day a little boy walked into the toy maker’s home and asked, “Please, Sir, I love this toy. May I take it with me and play with it at home?”
“Will you love it?” the man asked.
“Always and forever,” the boy answered.
“Of course, you can,” the gray-haired man answered with all the glee of a young lad.
The man gave away all the toys in the front yard as time passed. In place of the toys, the man found money. This unexpected action allowed the man to make more and more gifts, although he had never asked for anything for his toys. Eventually, people left wood for doll’s heads, metal for wondrous visions of delight, and many other items that inspired the craftsman to create more toys.
Eventually, they left cloth. That was when the toy maker started to make bears. He must have made hundreds of bears until one day, he felt old and said, “I have only the strength to make one more thing. I shall make one last bear and call him Thomas, after my oldest son.” He set to work and made a masterful bear. It was three feet tall, made of patchwork cloth with purple velvet cloth for his ears. Thomas had green buttons for his eyes and a small, ruby-colored button for his nose. It was genuinely odd looking. However, the old gentleman put every last ounce of his love into it, creating an exceptional bear. Sadly, when Thomas was finished and placed on a shelf, the generous older man quietly passed from this world to the next.
Even though several other bears surrounded Thomas, he felt alone without the toymaker to love him.
Word of the gentleman’s passing spread throughout the land, and people came from far and wide to look at the craftsman’s toys that had been made from love. After a while, people began taking the toys as keepsakes. The teddy bears were the first to go. There were the brown ones, the black ones, and the gold ones until they were all gone. All, except, of course, Thomas, the patchwork bear.
Then the people took the animals, village buildings, windmills, and all the other toys until nothing was left but Thomas. Everywhere one looked, whether in the yard, the house, or the grounds, there was no toy to keep Thomas company. He was all alone.
Several years passed, and Thomas just sat there on the shelf, not bothering anyone or anything. Eventually, the house, like the old toymaker, began to wither, and it was time for it too to be taken down. Still, Thomas sat on the shelf, waiting for someone to take him home.
Finally, a day before the old house was to be destroyed, in walked a tall, handsome gentleman with his wife and little girl. At once, the little girl saw the rather unsightly bear sitting on the shelf all by himself with cobwebs covering him from head to foot. “Look, Daddy.” The little girl ran towards the bear and jumped but could not reach it. Finally, the father walked over and said, “It’s covered in dirt and cobwebs. Are you sure you want to hold it?”
“Oh, yes, Daddy, yes, isn’t he beautiful? Look at those green eyes; they match mine. And his red nose reminds me of how mine gets when winter comes. He’s perfect. Can I have him?”
The man stood in the empty house draped by the sunlight and said, “When I was younger, this house was filled with toys that the old man loved to make. Now he’s gone, and all his toys are gone too. No one will ever know he was here. At least we will know.”
The man took a deep breath as if he were breathing in the history of everything around him. The man asked his little girl the words he had heard so long ago, “Will you love it?”
“Oh, yes, Daddy, always and forever.”
“Of course, you can,” he said. His daughter ran over and took Thomas from his sitting place. The father took his daughter’s hand, and they left the dilapidated house.
Thomas had finally found the love he had been waiting for, and now he would give it back ten-fold to the little girl. You see, that’s the power of love. Let it out, and it will give back to you tenfold. What are you waiting for? Go make your own magic!
