On Ursula Pine (and her children)

[estirose]

Ursula Pine is a mid-late game character, so I'm concerned that someone picking up Cozy Grove for Yuletide won't get to her in time to write about her or her relationship with Charlotte and Francesca, her daughters.

I'm pulling the dialogue I'm quoting from the Cozy Grove wiki.

Ursula Pine is the 13th of 17 bear NPCs that you meet on Cozy Grove. This motherly bear is a breath of fresh air - she's here to help you, instead of the other way around. (Or as Flamey puts it, "It appears that you're due for a change of pace, Scout. Cozy Grove has asked so much of you. And you have kindly tended to its spirits. But you're not the only one who wishes to do so. Go, walk in her garden. I think you'll have a lot to talk about....")

In life, she had a husband, Harold, who walked out on her and their children. Francesca eventually followed him. (She took his surname, DuClaw, and the others kept Ursula's surname, Pine.) Ursula ended up a single mother, raising their seven kids on her own, the youngest of which was Charlotte. She says in one of her later dialogues that it was hard, but there was fun and laughter as well. Charlotte mentions that Ursula was her scoutmaster when she herself was a Spirit Scout.

Ursula's garden is special. Even in life, when she planted certain things, other things appeared in the soil. She mentions a gold piece that caused the island to shrink, and a tooth that she'd planted that Mr. Kit had to dig up because he was frightened. In the game, you'll give her items for other bears that she'll plant and come up with other items that they need to help move on.

Before I go into very spoilery territory (her death, trigger warning for serious illness), here are some of my favorite quotes of hers:

"Hello there love! Oh look, you've got some schmutz on your face, let me get that for you—
—oh, sorry. Old habit. I may be dead, but my mothering instincts are alive and well, it seems."

"If I could get you a tea or some sandwiches I would. But these ghostly paws aren't good for fixing snacks. You are welcome to stroll in the garden, though. I can at least offer you that."

"This flower reminds me of my fellow Bears here in Cozy Grove...
...all plucked from our elements. Confused and disconnected.
Maybe you and I can tend to the others. Help them?
My garden is full of surprises, after all. Come back and see sometime."

"Please give [Charlotte] this crystal brooch. I love how it sparkles in the light.
And please, help Charlotte recognize that's it's ok for her to grow again."

Ursula died of cancer, and apparently it was a long, protracted death. (What kind of cancer is unknown.) As she says:

"It was cancer. A slow, wilting death.
My Charlotte stayed with me through it all.
At first, we would laugh and tell stories about the good days.
Our Scoutmaster and Cub days. Wonderful little adventures.
But as I got weaker, we laughed less. I could see the light leave her eyes, too.
I'm afraid the weak, dying mama bear is what Charlotte remembers.
But I want her to remember me as sunlight!
Because that's what I am, and what I held onto. Laughter and light."

And here is Charlotte's remembrance of the same thing:
"We went out on such wonderful adventures together. Before she got sick."

"For years, I stayed by her side.
I told her stories about how she'd get better. We chased miracle cures.
Towards the end, as the cancer ate her up...
All I could do was change her clothes and give her broth to eat. Spoonful after spoonful.
People told me I was helping. But it didn't feel like I was helping.
It just felt like I was ever-so-patiently watching along as she turned into a ghost."