Good Old...

Linus had his blanket. Matthew had Good Old.

Good Old was a small stuffed tiger. Perhaps I should say Good Old is a small stuffed tiger; for he still holds a place of honor on Diane's bookshelf. We bought Good Old in the Children's Hospital Gift Shop when Matthew was there for a procedure to put tubes in his ears. The tiger was one of a huge collection of stuffed animals in the gift shop. I don't exactly recall how we settled on Good Old, and I have no idea how it got its name. Somewhere along the way, though, the tiger was dubbed Good Old.

Good Old quickly became Matthew's constant companion. He never went anywhere without the tiger. Like Linus; Matthew maintained a vigil anytime Good Old needed repairs or cleaning. The inability to find Good Old caused the entire family to go into a full search and rescue mode.

Matthew couldn't go to bed without Good Old.

This rarely presented a problem; that is, until Good Old didn't come home from a shopping trip. Matthew was despondent and the clock was rapidly passing bedtime. We had been to the grocery store. Matthew had Good Old when we went in, but somehow Good Old had not made it back home.

We tried the easy stuff first; searching the car in the hope that Good Old had merely been knocked under a seat. Of course, the easy spot couldn't be the right spot. Good Old had not made it back into the car at Pick n Save.

I got into the car; hoping against all hope that I could find Good Old before Matthew suffered a total meltdown. My worst fear was that Good Old had ended up in the parking lot somewhere; never to be seen again.

I went to the customer service desk immediately upon reaching the store in hopes that another customer had found Good Old.

No such luck.

Several employees began a search operation throughout the store; checking under and around all of the shelving units. Minutes seemed like hours as we worked through aisle after aisle with no sign of Good Old. I could only imagine Matthew's grief at losing his beloved tiger. We searched the entire store twice, but there was no sign of Good Old. I came to the realization that I was going to have to return home to tell Matthew that Good Old was gone.

I stopped, once again, at the customer service desk as I was leaving the store; hoping that another customer or employee had found Good Old and turned him in. My heart leaped into my throat as I saw Good Old perched on the back counter! I could barely contain myself while the person in front of me in line completed some mundane task associated with grocery shopping.

Good Old wasn't lost any more!!!

I joyously gathered Good Old and headed home; ready to present the prize to Matthew!

Good Old was back...