Moving house.

I was a big fan of A A Milne's Winnie the Pooh when I was growing up.  Recently I chose Pooh as an avatar; a delightful picture of him sitting down with a huge frown, with the words Think, think, think! as a caption.  I have since farewelled Pooh as an avatar, because people were starting to call me Pooh, as if I had morphed into a furry round male bear! I happen to think that Pooh is a very wise bear ... not the bear of 'very little brain' that he gives himself credit for!  And it is lovely to sit down and have a conversation with him, because inevitably, he comes up with some very wise observations!  This particular talk took place when I was feeling a bit sorry for myself ... (I am over it now - and very much looking forward to our next challenge - knowing that my friends are only a phone call or text or email away!)

 

Mandy and Pooh sat together at the bottom of the garden; each thinking their separate thoughts, but somehow feeling connected to each other, happy just to be .  They did this for a while, Pooh humming a little tune, and listening to the echoes inside his empty honey pot.

Something - Pooh wasn’t sure what - made him suddenly look up.  “Mandy,” he said.  “Why are you looking so sad?”

A tear rolled down Mandy’s face and she wiped it away with the back of her hand.

“It’s nothing Pooh.  I’m ok.”

“Oh,” said Pooh, in a troubled kind of way.  “That’s a very sad sort of nothing Mandy.”

Mandy’s eyes began to fill.  “I’m sorry Pooh; it’s just … just… well I am going away.  To another place.”

Pooh licked some honey off his paw.  “That could be fun Mandy.  When are you coming back?”

“That’s just it, Pooh,” said Mandy sadly.  “I’m not coming back.  I shall live somewhere else. Far Away.”

“How far is Far Away, Mandy?  Will I still be able to see you?”

“Well no Pooh.  It would take you ages in a car.  Not so long in a plane.”

“Then that’s ok Mandy.  I’ll come and visit you.  With all our friends.”

Mandy looked sadly at Pooh.  “People say that Pooh, but often they never do.”

Pooh sniffed and felt something stir inside his tummy.  Perhaps he was hungry. He eyed the bottom of his honey pot but it was still empty.  So he decided to think.

“Mandy,” he said.  “What did you say you had to do to fill up your honey pot with the most delicious honey that ever existed?”

“Um, I think I said you had you use your imagination, Pooh.  Honey never runs out when you use your imagination.”

“That’s right,” said Pooh happily.  “How ‘bout if you imagine YOU are a honey pot and fill it with your friends!  Then you will always carry them around inside you … and they will never run out!”

Mandy thought about that for a minute.  She wasn’t sure if she wanted to look like a big, round honey pot! Then she gave Pooh her biggest and best hug ever.  “Oh thank you, dearest Pooh.  You are so right.  You will always be with me, no matter how far away I go.  If I keep a picture of you inside my head and one right next to my heart, we can still talk to each other, anywhere and anytime."

“Yes,” said Pooh.  “No matter how far, Far Away is, I will always manage to find you and you will always find me.  Will you keep an extra big honey pot for me … filled with especially yummy honey.”

“Definitely,” said Mandy happily.  “The biggest pot you ever did see … big enough for you and all the friends in the world!”

“Where did you say you were going Mandy?”

“To a place I’ve ever only dreamed about.  A slice of heaven – right here on earth.”

“Ah!” signed Pooh.  “You must be going to the Bee Hive … “

 

(The Bee-Hive houses New Zealand's ministers of parliament ... a building shaped very much like a bee hive - if only they could be as industrious as real bees!)

"If there comes a day when we can't be together, keep me in your heart, I'll stay there forever."