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 Linda Thomas
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Linda is the morning news anchor and features reporter for KIRO Radio. This is her local news blog, with an emphasis on social media, technology, Northwest companies, education, parenting, and anything else that grabs her attention.

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Feel-good story of the year: Ah Ah's back

September 10, 2012 @ 1:51 am (Updated: 9:13 am - 9/11/12 )

For his first birthday, Liam received a bright blue monkey toy. With lanky arms and legs, it wasn't the most cuddly stuffed animal, but it was a special one from his grandparents.

AhAhThink back to your childhood, or when your kids were little. Remember one special toy?

Three years ago, on a camping trip to Rocky Mountain National Park in Colorado Liam lost his blue monkey he named Ah Ah.

The family looked and called everywhere they stopped on their trip, 500 miles away from their home in Omaha, Nebraska. But they couldn't locate Liam's favorite stuffed animal.

They also couldn't replace the stuffed animal. Liam had cut the tag off. They didn't know which company made it. It was gone for good.

Time went on, Liam grew older, it seemed like he'd gotten over the loss.

Liam's mother never gave up searching for Ah Ah.

Recently, while searching eBay for another item, she typed in "blue monkey."

She was stunned when she saw another monkey that looked like the one her little boy lost.

She bought it, thinking it would make him smile to have a replacement for her son's lost Ah Ah.

When the monkey arrived in the mail from Florida, the mother saw it had singed hair on top of its head, just like Ah Ah.

She saw there was a jagged cut where her son had snipped Ah Ah's tag years before.

She was almost convinced that Ah Ah had come home but just needed to do one more thing to make sure: show the animal to Liam.

What you see on this video has been fact checked.

Watch Liam's ah-ha moment as he is reunited with Ah Ah.

How did Ah Ah get to Florida?

"If only that monkey could talk," says Tammy Staveley, the woman who sold Ah Ah on eBay for $29.99

She tells me she found the monkey in a second-hand store for her business, reselling items online. So, we may never know who discovered the stuffed animal and took it to Florida.

By LINDA THOMAS

Photo, screen grab from the original eBay listing on August 29, 2012 from Lost Loves Toy Chest in Largo, Florida

More from Linda Thomas

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Comments (12)


  • Add A Comment

  • hpygolkyone wrote...
    Holy Crap!...........
    September 10, 2012 3:56 am
    What a great story.....

    ..........BAD MONKEY!!

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  • Padre wrote...
    Dang...
    September 10, 2012 9:16 am
    .....as a parent who has a son who has a blanket he loves like Ah-Ah that just gets me right in the old ticker.
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  • FormerMarineSgt wrote...
    this is a great story until you realize a few things...
    September 10, 2012 9:21 am
    As i recall the story as it was stated on the radio at about 5:30 this morning: The kid lost the stuffed animal when he was 3. The kid is 8 now. 1) the kid is WAY too old to be that emotional over something he lost 5 years ago when he was 3. 2) It seems like momma was more obsessed than would be normal. And likely caused the kid to be this way by her actions over that many years.... yeah, it's cool that he got his lost monkey back. Don't get me wrong, I'm happy for him.
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  • GloScot wrote...
    Emotions are a strange thing
    September 10, 2012 10:53 am
    You never know how things can affect you. My wife gave me a ring several years ago to replace the engagement ring that I had lost on a camping trip (notice that we always lose things on CAMPING TRIPS!). When I saw it I immediately, unexpectedly broke down crying because I had thought it was my dad's ring that she found. She was caught by surprise. I was embarrassed. I don't know...
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  • jennyman wrote...
    Monkey
    September 11, 2012 7:43 am
    really, reallly really. You know so much about how someone else should respond? Jenny
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  • jennyman wrote...
    grief
    September 11, 2012 7:43 am
    It appears my response appeared to the wrong comment. iw as responding to Former Marine Sgtr-- oh now I see why he writes this. Marine.......Jenny
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  • DesertRez wrote...
    My dad would have just said
    September 10, 2012 10:41 am
    tough sh..!
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  • 0623 wrote...
    The Return of Ah-ah
    September 10, 2012 10:50 am
    (I'm glad I'm not a Marine Sergeant. Some of us have more fun by being more sentimental) "Twas a wonderful story; and I cried for Liam. But it did seem the mother was more impressed by her achievement than seemed necessary. It would have been better if she'd shut up and let Liam have his reunion without all that blah-blah.
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  • roomtemp wrote...
    I guess I'm the designated wet security blanket for this thread...
    September 10, 2012 11:05 am
    I was never into stuffed animals or dolls at all. I always thought kids that were seemed a bit strange.

    It was all about the big wheel baby! -Yeah, brodies in the driveway, woohoo!

    At eight, the stuffed animal would have warranted an eye roll and an... "Oh Mom, I'm 8 now, did you get me some more bb gun ammo?" He seems a bit emotional to me. But to each his own.

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  • kata wrote...
    to his credit
    September 10, 2012 2:59 pm
    I guess he's more than a little uncomfortable by the attention he's received from this. And as everyone here has said - mom seems to over-dramatized this a bit. Maybe she's hoping for a morning talk show interview? Ha. Ok, ok... I am sure "Ah ah" will be the topic of many more stories for this kid as he grows up. Hope he can live em down :)
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  • Randy from Woodinville wrote...
    Similar story as an adult
    September 10, 2012 12:28 pm
    A good friend of mine had her bike stolen a few years ago. It was a special bike, expensive and her favorite for mountain biking. She had set alerts on EBay and other sites to let her know whenever a bike of this sort was listed for sale, hoping that one day someone would try to sell it. One day that happened and examining it online she discovered it was, in fact, HER bike so she contacted the seller. He had found it in a storage unit he had purchased and was more than willing to give it to her for free, since she could prove ownership. My friend, not wanting this guy to be out the money he would have made, gave him a similar bike to sell. All worked out well and she's been riding it all summer!
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  • demo wrote...
    HOw wonderful!
    September 10, 2012 9:39 pm
    I have a grandson, like this young man, who would be devastated, if he lost his favorite stuffed Kirby. This video made me cry. A great video. Thank you for sharing it with us.
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