A Halloween Surprise

When I was in about the 1st grade, I wanted a stuffed animal.  Not just any stuffed animal though, this was the most perfect of stuffed animals – a basset hound stuffed teddy-dog (can’t call it a bear since it was a dog).  It was so cute, with big droopy eyes that pleaded with you to come snuggle with him, and soft mahogany fur that was exactly the color I wished my hair was.  There was just one problem: This teddy-dog could not be bought in a store.  Instead, to bring this sweet puppy home, you had to open a new account at the bank.  (In those days, banks often enticed customers to change banks by offering incentives like blenders, coffee pots, and, more important to me, the occasional stuffed animal.)  To make matters even more difficult, my mom worked at the bank, the same bank, in fact, that offered Beaureguard (the perfect plush pet came pre-named).

So, I appealed to my mommy. “Mommy, Can you please get me Beaureguard?  I really love him so much!”

“Wendy, we already have an account with the bank.  We don’t need to open another.  I’m sorry, but I just don’t think that there is a way to get that stuffed animal,” my mom explained.

So, I appealed to my daddy.  “Daddy!  I really, really, reallllllly want Beaureguard! Can you get him for me?”

“Now Wendy, you have lots of stuffed animals.  You do not really need another one,” my dad reminded me.

This fact was true.  I did have countless other stuffed animals.  But none were stuffed doggies, and certainly none were as ideal as Beaureguard.  So, I tried again, this time listing all the reasons I felt like he was superior to any other stuffed animal.

“Daddy, Beaureguard is bigger than me so he can protect me from the boogey-man at night!  And Daddy, he has the softest, most affectionate eyes I have ever seen.  I just know he wants to be my puppy as much as I want him!  And Daddy, did you see his fur?  It’s the color of a horse’s mane, and don’t you just love him as much as I do?” I beseeched.

But my parents weren’t budging.  They were ever the pragmatists, reminding me it would not be prudent to open a new account, and besides, what did I need a new stuffed animal for anyway, with all the dozens I already had?  So, I tried to content myself with playing with my old, unexciting stuffed animals and Barbies.  But every time I saw the commercial on TV offering the magnificent stuffed doggie with love blazing in his eyes, I felt my heart droop even lower than his basset hound eyes.

A few months passed, and I tried to put him out of my mind, but the harder I tried to stop thinking about him, the more I seemed to dwell on him.  His big floppy ears and gigantic goofy grin seemed to find their way into every day dream I had. 

Thankfully, Halloween was approaching and that gave me something to occupy my thoughts for a while.  I was going to be a witch complete with a spinach - green face and a nasty wart on my nose! I was very excited that my mom had even bought me a tall witch’s hat. I was certain I would have the best costume of all my friends! 

Finally, the big night came, and like every afternoon, I had gone over to the friend’s house after school so I would not be home alone.  I had brought my costume with me so that I would be ready to go trick-or-treating as soon as my parents came to pick me up.  Feeling quite resplendent in my costume, I met my dad at the door as soon as he knocked.  Swinging the door open wide, so he could see what a becoming witch I made, I expected him to be pleased with my hard work getting ready.  But, to my surprise, when I opened the door, Daddy was already beaming like the headlights on our two-toned Chevy Citation.  My mouth dropped open when I saw what was in his hands – Beaureguard!

I grabbed him up, and held him close to my chest, being careful not to get any of my green witch face makeup on his velvety, soft chestnut fur.

“Oh!  Daddy! You got him for me!  But how?”  I breathed with wonder in my voice.  “You told me there was just no way!”

But my daddy just smiled.  “You wanted him,” he shrugged, “and so I got him for you.”  In that moment, my daddy was my hero, and I looked up at him and hugged him tight, crushing Beaureguard in between us. “Thank you, Daddy.  I love you.”

                We got in the car and drove away to start trick -or-treating, but in my mind, I had already gotten the best Halloween prize of all.

                And after almost 30 years, Beaureguard still sits on my bed every day, reminding me of my Daddy’s love.