We didn't have to wait too long. About two weeks after Christmas, the eagerly awaited telephone call from Honey was received. He said that the presentation and party at Sesame was now scheduled for Friday the 14th, and that we could still go along and join him.
On the day we were so excited that we arrived rather early, but fortunately Honey was already there to make sure the bags were tastefully displayed. He signed us in and showed us around. There were not many people there at this stage, and so we had a great time playing with Honey and the lovely new bivvy/sleeping bags.
Time passes very quickly when you are enjoing yourself, and it did not seem long before other people began to arrive. They all seemed to know each other, and we began to feel shy and nervous, and sat very quietly in the background, especially when Lucy and the man representing Honey's Organisation, 'Teddies for Tragedies', arrived.
We listened carefully to the man's talk, and clapped very loudly when he thanked the bag makers for all their hard work, and presented two lovely certificates with pictures of bears, like Honey, in the background. Because the recipients were seated he got down on one knee for some of the photographs ...
... so we had to stand on our chairs in order to see what was happening. We were soon spotted and invited to come closer for a better look, and ended up sitting on Lucy and her friend Pat's knees.
When we began to recover from the shock of being at the centre of attention, we were horrified to realise that our friend Honey, who had invited us, had somehow been left out of the limelight. After all, he was the bear going to do the real work helping children in tragic circumstances, so we beckoned him forward to join us. He assured us that he was happy looking on, and we could tell he is naturally modest, but we wanted everyone to know what a remarkable bear he is, so we arranged for him to sit on Lucy's knee and have a private viewing of her certificate and a photograph with her.
By this time it was lunch time, and our tummies began to rumble, and we wondered how long people were going to carry on chatting. We need not have worried, however, because, before long, the tables at the back of the room were covered with all sorts of lovely buffet food, and we were all invited to help ourselves. It was so delicious that we bears went back more than once.
We had the most lovely day out with Honey, and will be very sad to see him go when he starts his next assignment. It is great to know, however, that thanks to Lucy and her friends, both he and his colleagues, will be properly equipped, and have the type of bag they like to take with them.
Love Pooh and Connie.
