US state of Montana
Six-year-olds reunited with their teddy bear after a year – thanks to a warm park ranger
Glacier National Park in the US state of Montana: Little Naomi Pascal lost her teddy bear on an excursion into this dream landscape
© Galyna Andrushko / Picture Alliance
A year ago, little Naomi Pascal lost her beloved teddy bear in Glacier National Park in the US state of Montana. Now she has found him again – thanks to keen eyes, social media and a kind-hearted park attendant.
It’s a happy ending that hardly anyone expected: A year after little Naomi Pascal from the US state of Wyoming lost her beloved teddy bear in a national park, the two are reunited. Teddy was no ordinary bear. It was very important to Naomi because it was the first gift she received from her new family before she was adopted from an Ethiopian orphanage in 2016, according to US media.
“Yes, we have a lot of pictures of her getting the bear, and that was definitely her first toy,” quoted the regional television station KTVQ Billings Naomi’s mother, Addie Pascal. “So it was very special that she could have him until we could come and get to know her personally.” Later, Teddy even accompanied Naomi on family trips to Ethiopia, Rwanda, Croatia and Greece.
Snow blocks the way back to Teddy
The loss was all the greater when the cuddly toy was lost in October last year. Naomi was visiting Glacier National Park in the neighboring state of Montana with her family. While her father Ben Pascal was hiking with a friend, Terri Hayden, a friend of the family, was taking care of her, reports the Associated Press (AP) news agency. They were almost back at the family home that evening when they noticed that the teddy bear was missing.
It started to snow the following night, so the higher parts of the park were closed for the season and Hayden could not return to look for the stuffed animal. She reported the loss to the park administration and hoped that someone would give the bear to the lost property office.
But it turned out completely different: Park rangers discovered the soaking wet teddy bear in the melting snow, writes Glacier National Park on its Facebook page. “Normally they would have thrown the bear away because it was in such bad shape, but somehow that didn’t feel right for Ranger Tom Mazzarisi,” the post said. “Bears are my passion. I just didn’t have the heart to throw it away. There was something special about this teddy bear, so I adopted it and named it Ceasar,” says Mazzarisi, describing his feelings.
Teddy “hibernated” in Mazzarisi’s home and when the ranger returned to work in April, he placed him in his emergency vehicle behind the windshield. “Caesar sat proudly in the center of the dashboard, keeping a watchful eye on bears and other wild animals,” writes Glacier National Park. “They drove together through the rugged mountains and Ceasar helped Ranger Mazzarisi to protect the public and the wild animals all year round.” “He was a perfect little mascot” and topic of conversation, Mazzarisi told AP.
In June, according to the news agency, Naomi’s mother, Addie Pascal, asked for help finding the teddy bear on Facebook and wrote: “He’s been by her side on so many milestones. But there are many more adventures to come!” The people responded with good wishes and offers for replacement bears. Hayden, on the other hand, made the posting sad, and when she drove to Glacier with some family members at the end of September of this year, she looked for possible locations of the stuffed animal. “I am a believing woman,” AP quoted the woman as saying. “That morning I said, ‘OK, Lord, if there is this bear, let him show me the way and let me come home with this bear today’.”
And that’s exactly what happened when Hayden and her adult niece were turned back from a trail because it was closed due to bear activity, and shortly afterwards they discovered a stuffed bear in a ranger’s car. They took a picture and sent it to Naomi’s mother, Addie Pascal, who quickly confirmed that it was her daughter’s teddy bear.
“I run to these rangers and hyperventilate,” said Hayden, according to the AP. “And I say, ‘There’s a truck down at the trailhead and there’s a bear on the dashboard.'” Mazzarisi had his day off, but another ranger got the keys to the car. The park rangers would have known about the bear, confirmed its location and handed the stuffed animal over to Hayden along with a junior park ranger badge and a ranger hat.
Hayden immediately sent it to Naomi, who was finally able to hug her teddy bear again after a year. The return of the bear is a beautiful story that resonates, said Naomi’s father Ben Pascal, senior pastor of the Presbyterian Church of Jackson Hole, a popular ski resort south of Grand Teton National Park in Wyoming. “It was just a story of hope and kindness and of people working together. It touched people’s hearts. It gave them hope. It made them feel that there is something good in the world and I believe that it is there is. “
Sources: KTVQ Billings, Associated Press, Glacier National Park on Facebook