Years ago, when I was writing Beaumont # 10, Without Due Process, my daughter was in high school. &nbsp;The book I was writing was always a topic of dinnertime conversation. &nbsp;One night she said, &quot;You know, Mom, you write books that are set in Seattle, and the radio station I listen to, (KSLY at the time) has a thing called the Teddy Bear Patrol. &nbsp;Have you ever heard of it?&quot; &lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;I hadn&#039;t, so she told me. &nbsp;It&#039;s a program where donated Teddy Bears are gathered and then made available for police officers and other emergency responders to give to traumatized children. &nbsp;As soon as I heard about it, the idea made sense to me. &nbsp;As a consequence, in that book, Beau encounters a little boy, Benjamin Harrison Weston, at a horrific home invasion crime scene where the child is the sole survivor. &nbsp;Beau had once been a Teddy Bear Patrol Doubter, but he was grateful that day when he was able to go back out to his car and find comforting Teddy Bear in his trunk.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;And that was the beginning of my relationship with the Teddy Bear Patrol, the organization to which that book is dedicated.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Time passed. &nbsp;Years, actually, and I found myself dealing with a difficulty in my own life. &nbsp;One day, when I went to the Post Office, there was a note telling me I had a package. &nbsp;When I picked it up, it was from someone I didn&#039;t know. &nbsp;When I opened it, inside I found a wonderfully soft Teddy Bear. &nbsp;It was from a lady in Colorado who, inspired by my book, had joined the Teddy Bear Patrol by MAKING Teddy Bears. &nbsp;On that particular day, I was the traumatized kid, and her bear--one I still treasure--was a real day brightener.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;Now more time has passed. &nbsp;KSLY has morphed into KWRM, but the Teddy Bear Patrol marches on. &nbsp;This week, the woman in charge of the program forwarded me a copy of an e-mail exchange from a woman in Australia, asking for guidance in instituting the same kind of program in Australia.&lt;br /&gt;&lt;br /&gt;The Teddy Bear Patrol was a good idea to begin with. &nbsp;I&#039;m glad my books have made it possible to pass it on. &nbsp;And if some scared little kid finds himself holding a Teddy Bear Down Under, he&#039;ll have my daughter to thank.&lt;br /&gt;