Travel Bug Dog Tag reindeer bear AKA "Reindeer Pete"

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Owner:
Ben's Honey Send Message to Owner Message this owner
Released:
Thursday, October 20, 2011
Origin:
Washington, United States
Recently Spotted:
In the hands of theoakfolk.

This is not collectible.

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Current Goal

To travel from cache to cache

About This Item

DSCF2045

My mother, who went to be with our loving Father on February 26, 2011, was an amazing woman.  When she graduated in 1950 she was awarded a full ride scholarship to a school in Massachusetts. I believe that
 she hoped to study Oceanography.  In 1950 women were not honored for their brains, it just wasn’t what the culture was about.  Most women were trained up to be wives and mothers.  So, with no thought at all, two days after she graduated my mother married my father, abandoning her scholarship and college.
 
I was born in 1950 and my brother and two sisters followed closely behind.  Mom never held a job but she and my father built a home for them and their four children together.  I remember my mom plastering the walls.  She would give me the left over pieces and I would mold them into animals of one sort or another.  All her life my mother dreamed of traveling, but with four kids it was difficult at best.  We did manage to get to Disneyland a couple of times.
 
In November of 1963 my mother discovered a large lump on the inside of her pelvic bone.  When the doctors found that it was cancerous they sent her home with about six months to live. Being the kind of woman that she was, my mother would not just lay down and die.  She insisted that the doctors amputate her leg.  The tumor was very  large and the surgery my mother needed had never before been preformed in the United States, but a new  surgeon in town took it on and safely removed her leg.  From that point on my mother was in constant pain.  She continued raising us, buying groceries, cleaning the house and everything else she proposed to do, all on one leg with crutches.  Having one leg and being on crutches all the time caused my mom’s spine to curve terribly and eventually the nerves in her arms were so damaged that she could no longer do the counted cross stitch that she so loved.  A broken knee in a car accident further limited mom’s movements; but it was not until 2007 that she finally allowed herself to use a wheelchair.
 
My mom died without ever getting to travel to the places of her dreams.  She had a small collection of stuffed animals and it is these animals of hers that I am sending out to travel the world for her.  Please keep them moving.  Pictures of their adventures would be wonderful for all members of the family, particularly my father, to see.  I know that sometimes people think that TBs are just so cute that they want to keep them for themselves and many of these are adorable; but please remember what they meant to my mother and what they mean to me and the rest of the family and keep them traveling.
 
My mom is watching from “on high”  with a smile on her face pain free!!  Thank you so much!

Gallery Images related to reindeer bear AKA "Reindeer Pete"

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Tracking History (41949.2mi) View Map

Retrieve It from a Cache 11/26/2011 TE17 retrieved it from Go Fly a Kite New South Wales, Australia   Visit Log

'Reindeer Pete' (his name as dubbed by my friends) was the first trackable I ever saw. At the time, we thought he was cute but wondered where we could find a cache big enough to fit him on the next leg of his journey.

And then we read his story. I was truly moved by your mother's tale. There is such beauty in strength and determination. I can only hope to live such a dignified life.

I had intended to take Reindeer Pete to a cache in Canberra, to look out at Canberra's politicians. However, given your mother's interest in oceanography, I thought I would take him somewhere she would really appreciate. Watch this space.

In the meantime, Reindeer Pete has been visiting the sights in Canberra, Australia's capital city. Photos to follow in the next few days. :)

Thank you for sharing your mother's story Ben's Honey, she sounds like she was an amazing woman.
Dropped Off 11/15/2011 GEOCACHEFERRETS placed it in Go Fly a Kite New South Wales, Australia - 5,183.91 miles  Visit Log
Grab It (Not from a Cache) 11/15/2011 GEOCACHEFERRETS grabbed it   Visit Log

Heading for Australia!
Visited 11/5/2011 Ben's Honey took it to Taro! Taro! Taro! Hawaii - 2,884.69 miles  Visit Log
Visited 11/4/2011 Ben's Honey took it to Silent Watchers of the Wailua River Hawaii - 2,886.78 miles  Visit Log
Visited 10/31/2011 Ben's Honey took it to A Smiley For You Washington - 2.24 miles  Visit Log
Visited 10/30/2011 Ben's Honey took it to Sillys Travel Bug Trading Post Washington   Visit Log
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