VIDALIA — Children usually start to lose interest in their teddy bears once they learn the monsters under their beds and in their closets are harmless.

But in Louise Cater’s house, the teddy bears she makes hold their purpose much longer than that.

When The Dart landed on Lynn Street in Vidalia on Sunday, Cater was just returning home from church at Parkview Church of God in Natchez.

For Cater, her faith has always been a big part of her life, and at various times in her life she has shown that faith by giving back to others.

So for the past eight years, she has given back by building bears for those who have lost loved ones.

“I think the Lord wanted me to do this,” she said.

“The bears bring comfort. They are something solid that reminds people of the one that they have lost. The bears are something they can hold onto.”

What makes the bears more special than any old teddy bear is they are made out of an article of clothing that belonged to the deceased.

“People give me shirts, robes, or anything,” she said. “And those are my supplies. I leave the stains and the holes because those are the parts of the clothes that hold the most meaning to people.”

It all started 10 years ago after her husband of 53 years, Herbert Cater, died.

Cater’s son gave her a teddy bear.

“It had the same pattern as a shirt that he always wore,” Cater said. “I thought it was really nice, but I didn’t think much more of it.”

Then, one day after talking to Cater’s sister-in-law, she learned that the bear was actually made from a shirt of Herbert’s.

“I immediately started bawling,” she said. “The bear immediately had more meaning.”

“I wanted to make others feel that way.”

Now, the bear is first thing to be seen when entering Cater’s house and it continues to mean a great deal to her.

“It may sound silly, but I talk to it all of the time,” she said. “I know it can’t hear me, but when I see that shirt it reminds me of him sitting out on the patio in between cutting the grass.”