Nothing quite stirs up childhood nostalgia like memories of your teddy bear, as one man learned when he posted a now-viral YouTube video of his fiance receiving her Christmas gift – a refurbished version of her long-lost bear.
Cue: gasps of glee across the Internet!
The backstory: Vas Alli proposed to his fiancé, Jessica Crawford, on Christmas Eve 2012 on top of a mountain in Thailand.
The proposal was incredibly romantic and over the top, so he knew that his 2013 Christmas gift had to be even better.
Remembering that Jessica had a beloved bear that she used to sleep with every night, Vas searched through some old boxes and was able to find “Whitey.”
But after years of wear and tear, Whitey was in bad shape – his body was torn, and he was missing an ear, his nose, both eyes and lots of stuffing.
Vas sent Whitey to the Secaucus Doll Hospital for major surgery.
One week later, the bear was completely restored.
“When I opened the box I was shocked,” Jessica told TODAY. “Vas was able to give me back years that we didn’t even share together. He became part of the first 25 years of my life.”
The couple plans to get married in February 2015, and now Vas has to share his bed with another man…Whitey.
“Jessica sleeps with him every night,” Vas said. “She doesn’t let him leave her side.”
Brittany Jones-Cooper is a blogger and producer. Follow her on Twitter and Instagram.