I can only imagine how painful is to lose a parent. And the things that they leave behind, photographs, objects, memories are all tokens of a life that has forever changed. So, you can understand the frustration and pain that can be caused when a priceless object left from your beloved parent is lost.
Our story is about Mara Soriano and the search she initiated through social media in search of her lost teddy bear, called Mama Bear. A couple of weeks ago, in Vancouver, Canada, while Mara was in the process of moving to a new apartment, she got a call from a friend asking for her help. Mara in a rush to help her friend and left her bags unattended.
In the bags there were personal documents, electronics, and Mama Bear, a teddy bear gifted to her by her mom who had passed away. The teddy bear was one of those that could “talk” after you had recorded a message. The particular teddy had a message recorded by Mara’s mom, Marilyn, which said how much she loved Mara and that she was proud of her.
Marilyn after 10 years of battling with cancer, eventually passed in June 2019, leaving Mara with the teddy bear that had her voice recorded. However, someone stole the unattended bags on the day of the moving, leaving Mara not only without her personal documents and electronics but also without her Mama Bear with her mom’s voice.
Mara was left devastated when she discovered what had happened but she quickly reached out through social media and platforms in search of her stolen items and particularly her Mama Bear.
As her online plea got more attention, more people joined the search for the missing teddy bear. The famous Hollywood actor and fellow Canadian, Ryan Reynolds led the search #FoundMarasBear and through his personal Twitter account asked the people involved in the theft to return the bear and he promised, “$5,000 to anyone who returns this bear to Mara. Zero questions asked”.
Deborah Goble a CBC radio and TV reporter joined the quest for Mama Bear as she took Mara and a cameraman and went out in the streets of Vancouver to search for the lost bear. In the video posted by CBC Vancouver News, we can see Mara looking actively for her lost teddy, distributing leaflets, asking people in the street, and searching in alleys and garbage bins.
Ryan Reynolds, seeing the tweet by Deborah Goble, rushed to inform her that if they do find the lost teddy, he is going to send her many bottles of gin. Of course, the tv reporter replied that she would accept only one, celebrating their success with a gin and tonic.
At the end, the story had a happy ending as Mara was at last reunited with her lost Mama Bear, two good people were able to find the lost teddy, taking it from the original thief.
Ryan Reynolds thanked the city of Vancouver for its amazing help and shared a photo on his personal Twitter account where we see Mara hugging her precious Mama Bear.
The recovery of Mama Bear brought joy not only to Mara but to all those people who for days dedicated time and effort to find the missing bear. It is really beautiful to see people united, willing to help each other!
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