After meeting Clarence and Fred, I decided I wanted to go to school and The Lady took me to the local school to look around. I had to be tested to see which grade I should go in. It was a little scary at first being the only teddy bear in a school full of boys and girls. But, I liked most of the children immediately and they liked me. Now, every time the Lady bought a new teddy bear, he got to go to school too if he wanted to. Now, there are 50 of us that go but we are all in the same grade so we can all be together. Every time a new bear is added to our family, the rest of us bears help teach the new one so that he can join us at school in the same grade. We all help each other with our studies and prepare for tests together.

When the Lady bought Roots Bear, he wasn't too sure he wanted to go to school. He came with us for a few months but he just never really much cared for school. He preferred to be a bear-bear, instead of a people-bear and live in the forest. Now, the Lady knew he was too young to live in the woods alone since he didn't know how to forage for himself but the happiest times he ever had was when we all went out on our "roots program" so something had to be arranged.

We talked to our Veterinary friend, Clarence, and he knew the perfect place for Roots Bear to live - on his property. Clarence has a lot of land and most of it is a forest with a small pond and it has a small cave near by. We took Roots Bear to have a look at his possible new home and he was so excited. Just like real bears, Roots Bear hibernates in the winter in his small cave. Mrs. Clarence even made him a special blanket to help keep him warm and we all provide him with nuts and berries to help fatten him up every Fall.

On a nice Winter day, we all go out and see how he is getting along. We peek into the cave so we won't wake him up just to make sure he is okay. Unfortunately, we have accidentally woken him up during these times and boy is he grouchy when we do. We just drop off more berries and sneak out quietly so he can quickly fall back to sleep. In the Spring, Roots Bear is very happy to see us and he joins us in playing in the pond and chasing each other up and down trees and all over the forest. So, Roots Bear is perfectly content living like a regular bear but he is still very happy to see and play with us each year. We miss him being a full member of our family but we are very glad that we do get to see him often and that he is happy.

So, out of all the bears that the Lady has adopted over the years, only Roots Bear prefers to continue being a full-fledged bear. He much prefers outdoors to indoors and likes hibernating in the Winter and having total freedom the rest of the year without any school or responsibilities. The rest of us, on the other hand, like being around people and learning things in school. I guess it takes all kinds to make the world go round. And, that's perfectly okay. We know Roots Bear loves us all even if he does prefer his solitude and freedom. He is happy and so are we.