My mother was from Chile, my father was from the U.S., and they originally planned to stay in my mother’s homeland. In my early childhood, I boomeranged between North and South America. It was then that I understood our kinship. Bears like marmalade.” The Browns, moved by his story (and by a little sign he wore that read Please look after this bear. “I’m not really supposed to be here at all. “Darkest Peru,” was his whispered answer. Brown said, asking the classic immigrant question. I had watched the show several times before I caught the first episode exploring Paddington’s past. I saw myself as the bear-bumbling through the day as politely as possible trying, and failing, to grasp the basics of London life. But I didn’t see myself as the family’s blonde, bobby-socked daughter. In the series, Paddington lived in Windsor Gardens with the Brown family, which included two siblings named Jonathan and Judy. The show’s stop-motion-animation style placed the rotund 3-D teddy bear in a paper-cutout London, and the shuffling theme song seemed to echo the protagonist’s waddle. Paddington was already a TV star, and his program was part of my regular lineup. At 8 years old, I was a latchkey kid watching after-school shows in the suburbs of Virginia. It’s been more than two decades since Paddington and I first met. border and families being separated-offering a powerful, if at times limited, look at the difficulties of leaving one’s homeland and being a stranger in a new place. His tale feels particularly timely-against the backdrop of undocumented children being detained at the U.S. More recently, Paddington’s immigrant status has moved from a thread in the books and in the animated series to a focal point in the 20 movies. Though Paddington has starred in dozens of books, TV shows, and films, his origins were revealed in his very first story, A Bear Called Paddington, published 60 years ago this month. He is, after all, an immigrant from Latin America it’s what brought us together. “Te ves guapo,” I said, brushing lint off his hat.

“Hello, friend,” I said, picking up a Paddington Bear plush toy from the duty-free bin. We ran into each other at Heathrow Airport last year.

Michael bond a bear called paddington