In the past few years, one of the favorite Christmas presents I got my dad was a weathered plaque at Cabela's that had a picture of a bear and said, "An Old Bear Lives Here With His Honey," which he hung proudly in the living room. The other night my wife was doing some dusting and she took the plaque down to wipe it off. My mom told her she wanted us to have it since her, "old bear," didn't live here any more. It was a bittersweet moment for us and was fresh on my mind the following morning around 6:00 a.m. when I stepped out onto the back porch for my coffee.
When I sat down, I saw something (big and black) moving behind a row of hedges and flowers about 10 yards away. As it came into view it was a male black bear I'm guessing at 250-275 lbs, that just started strolled across the yard and into the woods.
Thanks for sharing. Sounds like the bear could have been your dad, just leaving the property one last time. You’ll always remember that moment.
That is a lovely & bittersweet story.