--- title: Teddy Bear Present With a Hidden Meaning May Cause Tears description: A handmade teddy bear with deep family ties is warming the cold icy heart of the internet. canonical: https://time.com/5743845/teddy-bear-present/ author: Melissa Locker article:opinion: false article:content_tier: free article:published_time: 2019-12-05T15:22:53.000Z article:modified_time: 2026-04-13T08:01:05.986Z og:title: A Teddy Bear Gift With a Hidden Meaning Is Bestowing a Touching Present on Everyone og:description: A handmade teddy bear with deep family ties is warming the heart of the internet og:url: https://time.com/5743845/teddy-bear-present/ og:site_name: TIME og:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production og:image:width: 1200 og:image:height: 675 og:image:alt: TIME og:type: article twitter:card: summary_large_image twitter:title: A Teddy Bear Gift With a Hidden Meaning Is Bestowing a Touching Present on Everyone twitter:description: A handmade teddy bear with deep family ties is warming the heart of the internet twitter:image: https://static.time.com/v3/assets/bltea6093859af6183b/bltde093bcdab65f2d0/6988d9b9bc6cfc69913e2a3c/time-logo.jpg?branch=production --- # Bear Witness to the Teddy Bear Gift With a Hidden Meaning That's Bestowing a Touching Present on Everyone by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Dec 5, 2019 3:22 PM UTC by [Melissa Locker](https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/) ## Melissa Locker Dec 5, 2019 3:22 PM UTC When a man’s mom gave him a [teddy bear](https://time.com/3878804/teddy-bears-and-the-grown-ups-who-love-them/) over Thanksgiving, he wasn’t quite sure what to make of it. It was only after a closer inspection of the little bear and a brief trip down memory lane, he realized that his mother had made him an irreplaceable treasure. Twitter user @HiyaJosiah shared the heart-warming story on social media. “Mom gave me a[ teddy bear](https://time.com/4255954/teddy-bear-endangered-species-list/) thanksgiving. Took a second to realize it‘s one of the most valuable things I’ve ever owned,” he wrote in the post. To explain, he included photos of the bear along with pictures of him with his grandfather. The [bear](https://time.com/5105800/teddy-bear-drone-internet-reactions/) was stitched together from swaths of fabric taken from the shirts that his grandfather is wearing in each photos. > [](https://twitter.com/HiyaJosiah/status/1201648667758866432) It’s a truly sweet family heirloom that allows two people who clearly loved each other very much to stay close, even though one of them has passed on. Turns out, other people have had similar ideas and as word of @HiyaJosiah’s [cuddly token](https://time.com/3908247/robotic-teddy-bear/) spread across the internet, others chimed in with their own stories and photos of their own keepsakes that keep them close to loved ones they have lost. The result is a small corner of the internet that offers a good tug at the heart strings. One word of caution: Grab a tissue before reading or risk crying at your desk. > [](https://twitter.com/torri%5Ftorrie/status/1201992759378423809) > [](https://twitter.com/buie123/status/1202288101374214148) > [](https://twitter.com/david%5Fstorms/status/1202338464072642560) > [](https://twitter.com/AuthorDonohue/status/1202348320766726148) > [](https://twitter.com/juuliusceasars/status/1202348894149107712) > [](https://twitter.com/Galbrai1Niki/status/1202370673852612608) > [](https://twitter.com/katmillsm/status/1202379217071157249) > [](https://twitter.com/%5FCaitlin%5FB/status/1202382623248670721) > [](https://twitter.com/quinnmarion13/status/1202416475279151109) > [](https://twitter.com/L%5F%5FFletcher/status/1202333470443393031) ```json [{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"NewsArticle","@id":"https://time.com/5743845/teddy-bear-present/","mainEntityOfPage":{"@type":"WebPage","@id":"https://time.com/5743845/teddy-bear-present/"},"headline":"Bear Witness to the Teddy Bear Gift With a Hidden Meaning That's Bestowing a Touching Present on Everyone","datePublished":"2019-12-05T15:22:53.000Z","dateModified":"2026-04-13T08:01:05.986Z","description":"A handmade teddy bear with deep family ties is warming the cold heart of the internet.","url":"https://time.com/5743845/teddy-bear-present/","keywords":["Newsfeed","Viral News"],"thumbnailUrl":"","author":[{"@type":"Person","name":"Melissa Locker","jobTitle":"","url":"https://time.com/author/melissa-locker/"}],"articleSection":"","image":[],"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Time","url":"https://time.com/","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","url":"https://time.com/images/logo.png","width":528,"height":156},"foundingDate":"March 3, 1923","sameAs":["https://www.facebook.com/time","https://www.instagram.com/time/?hl=en","https://twitter.com/time","https://www.pinterest.com/timemagazine"]}},{"@context":"https://schema.org","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"item":{"@id":"/tag/time-section-newsfeed/","name":"Newsfeed"}},{"@type":"ListItem","position":2,"item":{"@id":"https://time.com/5743845/teddy-bear-present/","name":"Bear Witness to the Teddy Bear Gift With a Hidden Meaning That's Bestowing a Touching Present on Everyone"}}]}] ```