There are not a lot of
heartwarming moments that can compare to the time when who or what that was once
lost is finally found. That positive outcome to searches for missing persons or
things does not always happen, and over the past weekend a Filipina-Canadian
residing in Vancouver was worried that she might never see her most prized
possession, a Build-a-Bear teddy bear that plays a recording of her late mother’s
voice. Thankfully a social media buzz started by Canadian Hollywood star and
fellow Vancouverite Ryan Reynolds brought her story plenty of attention, and
that made a big difference.
PEOPLE.com tells us that the case of the missing/stolen teddy bear
of Mara Soriano came to a happy conclusion this Wednesday, July 29. As Ryan “Deadpool”
Reynolds reports on his official Twitter page, the lost Build-a-Bear toy for which
he had generously offered a $5,000 reward towards its return was handed back to
its Fil-Canadian owner. “In happier news... thank you everyone who searched
high and low,” writes Reynolds. “To the person who took the bear, thanks for
keeping it safe. Vancouver is awesome. #FoundMarasBear” His earlier July 26 tweet
mentioning the reward for the bear reached over 342,000 likes at the time of
recovery.
In happier news... thank you everyone who searched high and low. To the person who took the bear, thanks for keeping it safe. Vancouver is awesome. #FoundMarasBear https://t.co/X7FlyiR89P— Ryan Reynolds (@VancityReynolds) July 29, 2020
For her part, Mara Soriano
relates that by the evening of Tuesday, July 28 (Canadian time), she received an
email from an anonymous source that identified himself as one who found the
bear. Soriano then contacted Deborah Goble of CBC, who initially reported on
her situation days ago (and whose Twitter post was how Reynolds became
acquainted with the story). Soriano arranged to have the finder meet with her
in the CBC studio, where she was ultimately reunited with her precious
keepsake. “MAMABEAR IS HOME!!! #FOUNDMARASBEAR” she tweeted July 29.
Nothing more was said about the
other items Mara had with the bear inside her stolen bag, which included her
citizenship ID and two gadgets. And even returned, the teddy bear was missing
its glasses accessory, similar to what Soriano’s mother Marilyn wore before she
passed away from cancer last year. At least the toy’s voice box containing the
recording of her mom’s voice was undamaged. That was extremely vital because
the late elder Soriano’s voice when making the recording was, according to
Soriano, her normal tone, before her stay in hospice care would
change it dramatically until her death.
The message recorded by Mara’s
mother was a mixed Filipino-English greeting of love and a promise that she
would always be with her daughter. As Soriano, who has lived in Canada since
moving from the Philippines at age nine, explains, "It's a reminder of
home. The bear has a message in it in Filipino. It says 'I love you,' but in
our language. So it's very specific and very unique.” No details were given
whether Ryan Reynolds gave the promised $5,000 to the anonymous party who found
the bear, but Mara gave a cash sum to the finder as “collateral.”
Image courtesy of Yahoo News
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