Kind Alike to All
Love, Hugs & Kindness How a simple bear inspired Emily Cammeyer, Ohio Wesleyan, to comfort hospice patients t all started with a trip to Build-A-Bear. When Emily Cammeyer’s greatgrandmother turned 90, Emily—only 10 years old at the time—and her younger brother went to Build-A-Bear to make her a bear as a gift. They dressed it in a Yankees uniform since she was a huge fan. “She ended up calling this bear Joan Jeter because her favorite Yankee was Derek Jeter,” Emily recalls. “She lived alone so the bear kept her company when nobody else was with her. When she eventually got sick and got admitted to the hospital and then to hospice care, she took the bear everywhere she went.” The bear continued to keep her company in the hospital when she was alone. Emily remembers her great-grandmother as a strong woman. “She made sure that she was going to make it past my birthday.”
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The Trident Winter/Spring 2020
W Emily Cammeyer is pictured with one of the bears from the Love & Hugs for Zusman Hospice, a program she began at age 12 to provide teddy bears to hospice patients.
Photo: Jeffrey Hudson
