Mary Ann
It was love at first sight. There he was sitting on the top shelf of the toy store display case. My children were young as we vacationed in Petaluma, CA. They were busy checking out at all the other toys, and I made a beeline to the gray rabbit puppet. It was a German Steiff arm puppet with a little brass button tag on its ear. When I put the puppet on my hand, he came alive as all puppets do when you play with them. It is magical when they become real.
Then I looked at the price tag – $35 which was a hefty price in the 70s. After some debate, the bunny was on the way home with me. He was just too cute to leave behind, and as a teacher, I could use the rabbit with my work with children. I named him Benjamin Bunny after the Beatrix Potter’s character. I didn’t realize at the time how much that bunny puppet would mean to my life.
I fell in love with puppets after taking a weekend workshop about making puppets and writing puppet shows. I ended up giving my own puppetry workshops, The Magic of Puppetry, to children and fellow teachers. Puppets were a good vehicle to get the creative juices going. However, it was always a wonder watching children truly believe that puppets were alive. As the puppeteer, children could see that you were moving the puppet and talking for it, yet it made no difference. The children believed and that is where the magic is.
Benjamin was always a star at the presentations, but he did not come into his own until I became a principal. Since I oversaw very young children, I would visit the classes to read books, and Benjamin would join me. Benjamin was a very shy bunny, so it would take him a minute or two to warm up when he gave a timid wave to the children. Now, Benjamin ‘s mouth did not move so he would whisper in my ear what he wanted to say. At the end of my visit, Benjamin would hug each of the children. Little ones would love that special hug. Occasionally, a child would not hug him – he or she was also timid. However, as the year progressed, the child would become braver and finally hug Benjamin. Over the years, all the children in the school knew Benjamin from his visits to their early childhood classrooms. Benjamin became a bit of a celebrity. He had been hugged by hundreds and hundreds and hundreds of children. So much love!
When I moved to NYC, Benjamin came with me and visited our youngest children for book readings as well. He had a following and was a star in the Big Apple. Again, those visits ended with hugs from adoring children. Benjamin was dearly loved for 25 years and has now retired with me. We did do a ZOOM visit during the Covid Pandemic, and Benjamin showed the children how to wear a face mask, and he “told” them to listen to their parents and teachers so they would be safe.
In retirement now, Benjamin sits on a shelf in my office. I look at him every day and he makes my heart smile. Benjamin Bunny represents my life’s work with children and the happiness of doing that. I have decided that I will have him cremated with me when the time comes for me to say goodbye. No one else would ever know who Benjamin was and what he meant to me. The little bunny epitomizes children’s love, and I want to take that love with me.
Silver Sage Sisters 