In good company......

I think I am in good company!!! Since Jonesy has died I have needed my Jelly cat to cuddle, and to shake sometimes so I can hear the bell. It's like I am invoking the memory of my cat...and it certainly makes the 2 girl cats sit up and look when they hear that bell. They probably think Jonesy is back to haunt them, lol? Sometimes I have even been known to hold the Jelly cat tight and put the paws on my shoulder. Daft, but it reminds me of how I used to carry Jonesy around. Shades of the 'mad cat woman' coming out again, me thinks? The good company I am in is that of Lorraine Chase, currently appearing on 'I'm a celebrity, get me out of here'. She has Tedwood, a teddy bear that is very dear to her, and I have just read an article about why she is so attached to it. Okay, so my Jelly cat is to remind me of Jonesy, a cat, and her Tedwood is to remind her of the love of her life, John Knight, but we both have these 'toys' for similar reasons. When I read the item I fully understood why she has this need to have Tedwood.......
Most people lose their attachment to their favourite stuffed toys decades before they are eligible to collect their pension.

But Lorraine Chase, 60, was left in floods of tears after DJ and former children’s TV presenter Pat Sharp threatened to kidnap and burn her teddy bear Tedwood.The crisis, now dubbed Tedwood-gate, saw contestants on ITV reality show I’m A Celebrity… Get Me Out Of Here! rowing over the cuddly toy.friends revealed Tedwood is a poignant reminder to the actress of the 'love of her life' John Knight, who died of leukaemia in 1997.

The couple had been together for 20 years.Brian Crawford, owner of the Tramp club in London, who gave her the bear, said Tedwood travels everywhere with her.

He told the Mail: ‘Tedwood means absolutely everything to Lorraine.

‘She has been through a lot of heartache in her life and of course the most awful was when her partner of twenty years, John Knight, died of leukaemia in 1997. 

‘She had this teddy which meant the world to her and she was devastated when she lost it.‘She is my absolute dearest and closest friend so I bought her this stuffed Steiff teddy to cheer her up.

‘She was absolutely overjoyed and there were a lot of tears shed when I gave him to her.

‘It goes with her everywhere. Lorraine and I have flown first class to tropical islands and little Tedwood has been assigned his own seat in the plane.

Mr Crawford added: ‘It is a shame the other campmates are attacking her for being so attached to the little teddy because she has been through a lot in her life and she is the most lovely person with a truly good heart.

‘She lost the love of her life to cancer and I think her feelings for him were carried over onto the ‘Ted’.'

The actress, who shot to fame as the face of Campari’s iconic advertising campaign in the 1970s, told the Mail earlier this year about the bear.

She said: ‘Tedwood, my little bear, was a replacement for a very dear bear who’d been my companion for 15 years.He was given to me by a partner, but when that era came to an end I had to give him back because it would have been too painful to keep him.

‘I was so distraught I rang my dearest friend, Brian Crawford, who sent Tedwood to replace him. He’s proof that I have good friends and that life goes on.’ 

Her friend Julia Fieldhouse, who has flown to Australia to support her on the ITV reality show, added: ‘Tedwood goes wherever Lorraine goes. He’s been all over the world, including my house on numerous occasions.

‘However, he’s normally very well behaved. He takes his position on a bedroom dressing table and stays there until he departs to the next location.'

Miss Chase has rarely spoken about her relationship with advertising director John Knight, only saying: ‘His death hit me extremely hard.’

It may seem funny to some people, but we all deal with grief in different ways, and I am glad that Lorraine Chase has found some way of remembering someone who was very close to her. In my next posts I promise I will start to remember Jonesy as I should do.......his quirks, his amusing moments, his annoying moments, his character.....the way I want to remember him!! The way he deserves to be remembered, and hopefully this will stop me feeling so angry. I know it wont stop the tears, but it will make me smile more often than cry, and that must be a good thing?