LIMERICK, Maine — A 3-year-old Maine boy lost his teddy bear at the Maine Mall Wednesday, and the hunt for the bear has gone viral on social media.
The bear has special meaning for Nathan Lambert and the whole family, the boy’s mom, Kelsey Higgins, told WGME.
That’s because the custom-made bear was a remembrance of the boy’s father, who died last year in a car crash. The custom-made bear was one day supposed to carry some of the father’s ashes inside.
“He’s had a really hard time dealing with everything since we lost Dad, so it means quite a bit that he has that bear,” Higgins said. “To him it’s like the only extension he has of his dad, when we gave it to him, we told him if you miss your Dad hug the bear, if you want to talk to your dad, talk to the bear.”
After the family discovered the bear was missing, the family frantically searched for the toy, and Kelsey also posted about it on Facebook.
“I figured that it went missing in the parking lot somewhere,” Higgins said. “Before I knew it, it was shared like 50 times which I thought was insane.”
The post has now been shared thousands of times.
Higgins said she hopes someone picked up the bear and can return it, and in the meantime, hopes people continue to spread the news.
“It was heartwarming just to see so many people cared … even if we didn’t find it, that so many people care if he gets his bear back,” Higgins said.
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