We all have those things that we grew up with, those staples that we remember from our childhood that stay with us as we get older. For me, that was always Winnie the Pooh.
Growing up, my mom had a love of Winnie the Pooh, which started before I was even born. My nursery as a child was Winnie the Pooh themed, and one of my first real words was “Tigger.”
As a little kid, I always watched the Winnie the Pooh TV shows and read the Winnie the Pooh books. My favorite thing was this Winnie the Pooh VHS tape called The Book of Pooh. I would watch this on repeat. When it finished, my mom would rewind it so I could watch it again (ah, the good old days of rewinding VHS tapes).
I’ve had so many stuffed animals of the Winnie the Pooh characters and still do have a lot. I wanted anything that was Winnie the Pooh. My mom had this huge Winnie the Pooh stuffed animal that I’d play with as a kid.
I love the books, movies, and TV shows because the characters are so relatable. Each one has a quality that almost everyone can relate to. Piglet is the scared and anxious one. Tigger is the playful, excited one. Eeyore is the depressed, sad one. And Pooh is the worried one. At some point in life you can relate to all of these feelings and emotions.
For me, Piglet and Eeyore were always the most relatable. I have suffered from anxiety and depression, so I feel a deep spiritual connection to these two characters.
By far though, my favorite character is Eeyore. He has always been my favorite. As a grown adult, I still get giddy when I meet Eeyore at Disney. I have about six Eeyore stuffed animals.
Winnie the Pooh has always been something for me to lean on. It was nice to have something I always felt connected to and knew would always be there. The lessons it teaches and the important messages it gives to children and adults are so important and have shaped my life and childhood. I am lucky to have grown up with Winnie the Pooh, and I feel like no matter what, I will always have the lessons and memories of these characters I began to call my friends. I will always carry the Hundred Acre Wood gang with me no matter where I go in life.