By Sherri Coner
Anyone who knows a busy, chatty, nearly 3-year-old named Greyson Williams also knows that he and Pooh, Greyson’s beloved buddy since his first birthday, are never apart.
That means absolutely never.
Pooh accompanies Greyson to every mealtime at home or at Grandma’s house. Pooh hangs around during bath time. He sleeps with Greyson. He also goes to preschool with Greyson.
He is dragged along to the park, and he stars in every photograph ever made.
When Pooh first entered Greyson’s life, he was a tan colored, fluffy teddy bear, said Greyson’s mom, Kayla Chandler of Center Grove.
“Now Pooh is all beat-up. He’s ripped and stained,” she said.
When the well-loved bear begins to lose stuffing, Greyson’s dad, White River Township Firefighter Lance Williams, tells his disappointed little boy that Pooh has to see the doctor.
A friend at the fire station then applies some loving care with a needle and thread, and Pooh returns home in good shape.
This information about Greyson’s relationship with Pooh helps everyone understand the degree of heartbreak recently when Pooh suddenly went missing.
“Greyson and Pooh and I went out for dinner with Grandma and then we went to Sam’s Club,” Chandler said.
Enamored by a Halloween display of monsters, Greyson must have let go of Pooh somewhere so he could investigate the goblins more closely.
Once they returned to the car, Greyson was barely strapped into his car seat before he got semi hysterical about his missing buddy.
“I really didn’t remember Pooh being in Sam’s Club,” Chandler said. “So I drove back to the restaurant, thinking Pooh was left in there.”
After not finding Pooh at the restaurant, Chandler returned to Sam’s Club.
But the store was already closed.
Poor little Greyson cried all night about Pooh being lost and couldn’t find his way home.
“He was crying and saying Pooh can’t find him,” Chandler said.
Distraught, she called family members.
“Everyone was a mess, the whole family was so upset,” Chandler said.
Since Chandler is a nurse who had to work the next morning, family members offered to be at the doors of Sam’s Club the following morning, to look for Pooh.
Still unable to calm her child or her own nerves, Chandler made a post about the problem on the Center Grove Chatter section of Facebook.
Every parent on the thread immediately felt her guilt and worry.
Somehow, poor, little fairly furless Pooh had to be found.
Chandler asked if anyone worked at Sam’s Club.
And if they did, could they please look for Greyson’s best buddy.
Maybe he was somewhere around the monster display.
She was stunned by so many strangers asking what they could do to help.
“At 3 a.m., someone posted a picture of Pooh,” Chandler said. “Some candy was taped to him.”
Someone had found Pooh and turned him into customer service.
Someone else from Center Grove Chatter knew the story about the bear and the boy.
An elated little Greyson was simply told that Pooh was shopping.
Now the buddies are reunited, and life is back to normal.
Obviously, Pooh will attend Greyson’s third birthday party.
