Teddy Ruxpin Has been a big part of my life since December 25, 1986, when I was 2 and a half years old and recieved Teddy for Christmas. Teddy represents some of my earliest memories, including seeing a TV commercial and immediately being awed by this talking Teddy bear. I remember clearly coming out of my bedroom and seeing Teddy sitting there underneath the Christmas tree, proped up outside of his box, ready and waiting to take me on an adventure. I still have the video from that Christmas, and the majority of my on-camera scenes are me either paying no attention at all to the camera (something that was a rarity for me in my toddler years- a true camera hog I was) or desperately trying to get my Dad or Grandpa's attention to turn Teddy's tape back over to hear "The Airship" again. We lived in a rural part of the country and in days before the internet brought you a million places to shop at the click of a mouse, it was hard to find Teddy story books & tapes. I had only six or seven out of the dozens that were released, and I remember clearly as a tot wondering what else Teddy did when he wasn't telling me stories. My questions and prayers were answered when My mom awoke me one morning to tell me Teddy was on TV. For the next months, she awoke early every morning to tape the TV series for me. During one of the first episodes I saw, I remember seeing "Created by Ken Forsse" and thinking what a cool guy this Ken must be.

In what was sometimes a difficult situation growing up, Teddy was always my friend. Weather it was the toy or the TV series or the Airship & Playmap, most of my playtime in my early years was spent with my body on Earth, and my mind and imagination in Grundo. I grew to love the other characers (especially Grubby) as much as Teddy, and remember wishing several times Wooly would come to visit and scare the neighborhood bully away. So, Teddy was much more than a toy or a TV show, for me he was really an experience. A part of my everyday life. I can honestly say I don't think I'd be the same person I am today without his influence.

As the years grew, my affection for Teddy changed and I became more interested in the stories than I had been previously. and how they were created. Teddy honestly gave me interest in Children's entertainment to the point I wanted to be involved in it, even at a young age I thought about making it my career. In 3rd grade I put on a Puppet Show and wrote children's stories for younger kids in school. With my interest in the stories, having a lack of "Adventure" series books & tapes yet most of the 65 episode series on tape, I became more interested in the TV series and became somewhat of an expert on it. I play my tapes only once a year or so now as they are becoming very fragile, but I can still quote episodes and remember in detail most of the series. This became the original focus of my website when I opened it in 1998. The idea for the website started in 1997, when after about three years of Teddy being more at the back of my mind, he came up front and center again when I watched the old TV series tapes for the first time in a couple of years. The name Ken Forsse again popped up and I wondered if my hero had a website- I found out he didn't, and I found very little other content on the web about Teddy. Over the course of the next months I would occasionally get online and pick up a HTML tip or two, intent on making a Teddy site of my own.

This site opened on August 8, 1998, (see more info about the history of the site Here) and within a little over a year, my dream came true when I finally got in contact with Ken Forsse, who I had wanted to meet at that point for 13 years. Teddy again became an everyday part of my life, and something of a focus I needed and was missing at that point in my life. Through a lot of troubled times, Teddy always seems to come around when I need him most.

I am very greatful to have had such an opportunity to be a part of Teddy's history myself, albeit a small part, when I was asked to help with his re-introduction in 2005. The interview I did with USA Today hangs on my wall as proudly as any other achievment I have ever accomplished.

In addition to the whole "World of Grundo" in general, I feel particular affection for several aspects of the Teddy Ruxpin storyline, including a particular fondness for Grubby (I have always felt I was born into the wrong species, as I seem to be an Octopede at heart) I share Teddy's sense of Adventure, Wooly's protectiveness of friends and family, and I enjoy the sense of humor of Grubby and L.B. Storylines that are close to my heart are "Grubby's Romance" (everytime I have been in an affectionate relationship in my life I have always wished it were more like Grubby and Karen) and "The Day Teddy Met Grubby". I also feel Teddy is a big reason why I tend to want to be friends with nearly everyone I meet, sometimes to my own detrement.

I am very pleased to have Teddy back to capture the imagination of a new generation. The world is perhaps more callous and cold now than ever, and a lot more synical then when I was growing up. I'm grateful for the children of the world to have Teddy available to be the kind of friend to them that he always has been to me.

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