GO! CANADA! GO!

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, James. He's old and forgetful, so I have to look after him. Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing.

Know what? We watched the Lympics on CTV. The Lympics are for athletes. They win gold medals. O Canada won lots of gold medals. Chance and me play Lympic Games. I won a gold medal for running. I can run fast 'cuz I got Cat-in-the-Hat sox. They were a present from Tanner. Tanner was a big 'ole yeller dog. He was my firstest bestest friend but he got sick with cancer and died. When I wear my Cat-in-the-Hat sox I remember him. Chance won a gold medal for climbing really high but he tried to eat it. I said, "My son! Take that out of your mouth this instant!" We can't eat gold. It's not in the Canada Food Guide. I have to watch him you know, he's a real handful.

We're having porridge for breakfast. We're not eating gummy worms, though. Today we have chocolate toonies and loonies wrapped in gold and silver foil. We take off the foil and put the chocolate coins in our porridge. It's a Lympic breakfast!

Did you hear that? James is hollering, "Where's my handsome bear cubs? Who's gonna help me eat a Lympic breakfast?" That's me! Charles. I'm a handsome bear cub! That's Charles, too! I'm gonna sit down at the table and my breakfast a-l-l u-p! Chance is too little to eat porridge. He drinks condensed owls' milk out of his bottle.

Okay! We gotta go! This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Be good citizens! Eat all your food so you can be strong and win lots of gold medals today. Good citizens get to drink root beer and eat Smarties. Over and out!"

Tanner and Chance Play Piggy Back

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy,  James. He's old and forgetful. Sometimes he wears sox that are two different colours. I have to look after him. Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing.

This is Chance and Tanner. Tanner was my firstest, bestest friend. He was a big 'ole yeller dog who lived with his friend Cassidy the bunny rabbit. Tanner got real sick with cancer. He died yesterday. He was five, just like me. He was my very bestest friend.

I'm gonna miss Tanner a whole lot. Know what? Cancer is not our friend. Cancer is even meaner than hornets! I remember when  James got cancer inside his head. He was real sick too, but he didn't die. I'm glad he's still here. I love all my friends and buddies. I don't like death. Death is mean.

Now that Tanner is gone it's my job to take Chance piggyback riding. I can do that! It's fun. Chance can't talk but he makes little squeaky noises when he's happy. I have to watch out when he makes squawky noises. That means he's hungry or he made poo in his diaper. That's yucky.

This is me, Charles the bear cub...Oh! Wait! When I take Chance piggyback riding, am I a pig? If I'm a pig will I get swine flu? I gotta go ask James! "Over and out!"

Saying 'Good-bye' to Tanner

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy,  James. He is forgetful and old. He goes outside without his shoes, sometimes.   I have to look after him. Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing.

This is Chance and me with Tanner. He's a big 'ole yeller dog who lives with his friend Cassidy the bunny rabbit. They live with their buddies Jay and Shaun. Tanner is five, just like me. He's my very bestest friend.

Tanner was really sick. He went to sleep yesterday and stopped breathing. His life is finished. Grownups call it death.

Know what? I don't like death very much. Death is mean. It makes me hurt really bad inside. I wanted Tanner to get well and he couldn't. I cried. Chance cried.  James scooped us up on his lap for big hugs. We all rocked in the big rocking chair and cried together. We used up a whole box of tissues.

James says Tanner is at rest and the cancer can't hurt him anymore. I'm glad for that 'cuz he was real sick. I'm going to miss Tanner a lot. We can't play together but  James says as long as I live I will always remember the fun Tanner and me had digging holes or climbing maple trees, eating Smarties, marching proud down the avenue in our rainbow colours or racing our bikes up and down Sandwich Street. I will tell new friends and buddies about Tanner.

When spring comes we're gonna plant some flowers in his honour. Tanner would like that. Know what? I'm gonna plant a box of Smarties for him, too.

This is me, Charles the very saddest bear cub on Sparkle Road. Tanner will always be my first bestest friend. Good-bye, Tanner. I'm glad you were my friend. I won't ever forget you, honest!

Playing with Tanner

Hi. I'm Charles the Bear Cub. You know me. I live on Sparkle Road with my buddy, Special Ed James. He rides to school on a short bus, so I have to look after him. Oh. Wait! Chance lives with us, too. He's a newborn cubby someone left in a basket on our doorstep. He's a wee little thing.

Know what? I'm playing with my friend Tanner. He's a big 'ole yeller dog who lives with his friend Cassidy the bunny rabbit. They live with their buddies Jay and Shaun. We play games like Roll Over. We play Hide & Seek, too. Tanner is five, just like me. He's my very bestest friend.

Tanner is sick. He takes lots of meds. He has to lay down a lot. He has trouble breathing sometimes. Special Ed James says Tanner has cancer and he can't get well. That makes me sad. I want Tanner to feel good so we can dig holes in the back yard. I know! We can play Doctor and I will give Tanner Smarties to eat. Then he will get well and we can play! That's helping! Okay! I'm gonna get Special Ed James and Chance. We can go to Mac's Milk right now and get some Smarties! We'll get a really big box!

This is me, Charles the Bear Cub saying, "Help your friends. That's what good citizens do. Over and out!"