My friend was a Park Ranger and he died last month. He got cancer a few years ago and recovered; and then he got cancer again just recently. This time he didn't recover. I offered to make his wife a memory quilt because I am a quilter and I didn't know what else to do.

His wife told me that what she really wanted was a stuffed bear made out of his uniform shirts. I couldn't say no. I had no idea how to make a stuffed bear, but I said I would make it happen.

After a few days researching bear styles and patterns online, I realized none of them looked quite right. This bear needed to be something special; something made from my heart. Thus began the journey of bear making.

I had no clue what I was doing. The first bear looked like a lumpy elephant and I couldn't figure out how to attach the head. It was definitely not what I had pictured in my mind. Once my husband figured out what he was supposed to be looking at, he told me that he thought I was making a bear, not an elephant, and by the way, that elephant looks kinda funny. I subsequently lost motivation on making my own pattern and download a free bear pattern off the internet. I made it, and it was a cute bear, but not what I wanted. I had ideas, darn it! I went back to my elephant bear, made some major edits, and tried one more time. I wish I could say the next one was absolutely perfect, but it wasn't. I had to continue to make small adjustments to the pattern and how I put the pieces of the bear together.

Somehow, this project came together without a missed stitch in the end.  The result was EXACTLY what I had wanted for this family. My friend's wife and child now have something to hold onto while they miss him. Although it wasn't the memory quilt I was originally picturing in my mind, I can't imagine anything more perfect to honor the memory of my friend.