Apple Stars

Last night, as a 16th birthday present, Abbey took her friend, Alyssa, to a Build-a-Bear store to have her choose a special bear that reflects her entering her dating years. I came up with this idea for Abbey’s 16th birthday last year . . . to join her child-like qualities and love of animals (the bear) with her desire to enter another stage of growth (dating, girlishness and understanding twittery girly socializing); Abbey wanted to share this gift idea with her friend. Going back in time to Abbey’s trip to get her bear last year, it was a fun bonding experience as we discussed her hopes and dreams as it pertains to her future marriage, husband, and family. She wanted her bear to symbolize her standards and beliefs as she entered the dating years. Abbey intends to visit her bear before every date to remind her of her own expectations.

So, she chose a white bear to symbolize purity. She then chose a build your own sound to record a message that she had decided on to reflect a supportive belief for this stage. Previously, Abbey and I had perused the songs that she had most enjoyed singing on her guitar, and carefully listened to the lyrics to see if something jumped out at us. One did. It is from the song, “Beautiful”, and the lines that she chose to state in the message were: “It’s what you give that makes you beautiful; it’s how you live that makes your dreams come true.” Perfect reflection of who Abbey is . . .

Then Abbey chose a heart to put inside her bear. She had thought about the prayerful wish she would like to make about this stage that the bear represented. She then proceeded over to find an outfit that reflected herself. The outfit had to be modest and authentic to Abbey’s style of dress. She decided on jeans and a simple purple top . . . no hat and no shoes. Last, she put the free bows on the bear’s ears to indicate her willingness to “add to” who she is in becoming more girlish without subtracting from who she authentically is.

Alyssa is the friend that shows Abbey how to be more girly, but appreciates Abbey’s comfortableness in being simple and not a “game player” in the girl/boy dynamic. Although she has very similar standards and beliefs as Abbey, Alyssa’s bear looked completely different as it reflected her very own personality.

It was a fun girl’s night out

Abbey and Alyssa__________Abbey’s Build-a-Bear

This entry was posted on Friday, June 2nd, 2006 at 11:05 pm and is filed under Transitions. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.