Girl Gives Mute Boy a Teddy Bear, 20 Years Later She Finds the Same Toy At Her Doorstep — Story of the Day

Emma was just six years old and she had no idea that her one act of kindness would transform a little grieving boy's life forever.

When Emma Stockton was two, her Uncle Harvey brought her back a teddy bear for Christmas from one of his trips to Europe. It was the most beautiful, cuddliest teddy in the world, and Emma fell in love with him instantly.

For the next four years, Mr. Snuggles (that was the teddy's name) went wherever Emma went, even to school, and he slept in her arms every night. No one ever imagined that Emma would ever give away Mr. Snuggles, but she did. It would be 20 years before she saw him again.

It all happened because her brother Garret, who was eight, got very sick and the doctor said he had to go to the hospital and have his tonsils out. Emma was worried because she sort of loved Garret even though he teased her a lot, but mom said it was no big deal.

Garret would go into the hospital one day and come out the next. "Can we go visit?" asked Emma, and mom said that they could. It was very exciting because Emma had never been to a hospital before.

Garret was lying in a big bed, in a green room, and there was another bed there with another boy. Emma hugged Garret and made him hug Mr. Snuggles too, then she asked, "Who's that boy?"

"I don't know," Garret said. "I don't think he talks at all. The nurses come but he won't look at them. He just cries all the time."

Emma was curious, so while Garret was talking to mom and dad she slipped over to the other side of the room and peeked behind the curtain to take a look at the boy who didn't talk.

He looked OK to Emma. He had big sad eyes, and his eyelids were all puffy like Emma's got when she cried too much, and his mouth was sad too. "Hello!" Emma said brightly, "I'm Emma, and this is Mr. Snuggles!"

The boy didn't say anything. He just closed his eyes tight and turned his face away. "My brother says you don't talk, and you cry all the time," Emma said. "But maybe that's because you're sad?"

It looked to Emma as if the boy had given the tiniest nod, but maybe she just imagined it. "You know, when I'm sad I talk to Mr. Snuggles. He's magic, you know?"

The boy's eyelids opened the tiniest slit and he took a peek at Mr. Snuggles. "Mr. Snuggles is a magic bear," Emma explained. "And he takes away all my bad dreams. Uncle Harvey even said he grants magic wishes!

"Do you have any special wishes?" Emma asked, and saw a slow tear slip down the boy's cheek. At that moment she knew that Mr. Snuggles had an important mission: to help that little boy.

Hope is a priceless gift.

"Listen." Emma said, "I'm going to leave Mr. Snuggles with you because I think you need him more than I do, but when you're all well you can bring him back, ok?"

Emma placed Mr. Snuggles in the boy's hand, and he closed his fingers tight around the bear and drew him close to his chest. Those big eyes were wide open again and staring at Emma.

"My name is Emma Stockton, and I live at 23 Wisteria Crescent," she said. "My mom made me learn that in case I get lost, but that's where you can take Mr. Snuggles!"

Just then, Emma's mom started calling for her, and Emma waved goodbye to the boy and to Mr. Snuggles. No one noticed that Emma didn't have Mr. Snuggles anymore until it was bedtime.

"Emma," mom said, "where's Mr. Snuggles?"

"I left him at the hospital," Emma said, and her voice shook a little. "This little sad boy needed him more than I do."

"That's very kind and very brave of you Emma," mom said gently and pretended she didn't see the tears on Emma's little cheeks.

Emma missed Mr. Snuggles a lot, but she grew up, faster than anyone imagined was possible. One day when she was 26, a lovely grown-up lady visiting her parents, someone rang the doorbell.

Emma opened the door and saw a very scruffy teddy bear on the doorstep. "Mr. Snuggles!" she cried. Then she saw a man walking away. "Wait," she cried. "Wait..."

The man turned around and the moment she saw his eyes she recognized the boy from the hospital. "Please wait," Emma said. "I've thought about you for years! I'm so glad you're ok!"

The man smiled and said, "I've thought about you, too, and I thought it was time I brought Mr. Snuggles home. I'm sorry it took so long, but I was living in Washington with my grandparents."

"You remembered what I said," said Emma with a smile.

"All these years I've wanted to thank you for the magical gift you gave me all those years ago," he said. "You see, my parents had died in a terrible accident, and I was hurt very badly.

"I couldn't speak, but I believed you when you said Mr. Snuggles was magic, so I started to whisper to him. I asked for a magical wish, I asked for my family back. Of course, there was no miracle...

"But I carried on talking to Mr. Snuggles, telling him about my mom and dad so I wouldn't forget them, and then I started to talk to other people, and I healed."

"Oh," Emma said with tears in her eyes. "I wish Mr. Snuggles really WAS magic."

"But he was Emma," the man who had been a boy with a broken heart said. "Mr. Snuggles' magic was that he was given with love, and love heals all wounds."

Emma gave the man who had been a boy with a broken heart a hug as if she'd never let him go and invited him in to celebrate Mr. Snuggles' homecoming.

What can we learn from this story?

• Hope is a priceless gift. When Emma gave the 'magic' teddy bear to the grieving boy, she gave him hope and something to love.
• Kindness can reach across the divide of sorrow to heal a broken heart. Emma's kindness helped the boy come out of his depression and heal.

Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.

If you enjoyed this story, you might like this one about a boy who writes a shocking letter to Santa Claus and his saddened mother and father decide to teach him a lesson about the meaning of Christmas.

This account is inspired by our reader’s story and written by a professional writer. Any resemblance to actual names or locations is purely coincidental. All images are for illustration purposes only. Share your story with us; maybe it will change someone’s life. If you would like to share your story, please send it to info@amomama.com