theodore tender_square he's never been ted, or teddy. which is kind of funny when his uniform is jean overalls without a shirt and no shoes. "theodore" doesn't exactly sound casual. i don't know when he became mine, only that we've been together for more than three decades. he'd been living in the cellar at my last place. when i moved, i stuffed him in a clear bag with the others, threw them into the truck. we arrived home and they've been stagnant and suffocating on my office floor. i untied the knotted bag and lay their bodies down beside each other on my unmade bed. i held his rounded paws in my hands, rubbed the fibers of his worn plush. i took him in my arms, climbed into bed and cried as the afternoon breeze fluttered my curtains. i am a child, clinging to what i know, trying to grow up. but maybe that's how living is supposed to be: all curious eyes and open heart and magic. always magic. 230529 what's it to you? who go blather from