‘Tis the Season of Giving

 While shopping with my niece, I spied a little girl poring over Barbie dolls with her father, a roll of money clutched in her hand. Each time she saw a doll she liked, she turned to her father and asked if she had enough to buy the doll. He usually said, “Yes.”

 As she kept looking, I noticed a little boy wandering nearby with his father. The two were looking at Pokemon toys. The boy also had money in his hand, but it looked to be $5 or less. In contrast to the little girl, he was told “No” every time he picked up a toy to show his father.

 Meanwhile, the little girl had chosen the Barbie she wanted. But before she went to the register to buy it, she noticed the little boy and his father; by this time the boy had a book of stickers in his hand and was looking dejected.

 What happened next I’ll never forget. The little girl returned her Barbie to the shelf, choosing a Pokemon game instead, and raced to the checkout. After she paid for it, she whispered something to the cashier, who took the toy and put it in a bag under the counter. When the boy got to the cashier, she congratulated him on being the store’s 100^th customer for the day and proceeded to take the game from underneath the counter. The little boy said excitedly that it was exactly what he had wanted!

 I left the store behind the little girl and her father who was asking her why she had done what she’d just done.

 “Didn’t Grandma and Grandpa want me to buy something that would make me happy?” she asked

 “Yes,” said her father.

 “Well, I just did!” said the little girl.

 As she skipped toward her car, I realized the little girl had answered her own question of “do I have enough?” And I felt privileged to have witnessed the true spirit of Christmas in that toy store.

 – Adapted from the Cyberstory website

Lauren was having a hard time deciding what to get her husband for Christmas. What did you buy for the man who had everything he wanted? With three beautiful children, a nice home and a little money in the bank, it seemed that their lives were complete.

Still though, Lauren wanted to get James something special. Finally, after hearing James talking about his volunteer work at the local runaway shelter, she decided what to get him. She went out and bought 30 pairs of new shoes and donated them to the shelter. On Christmas Day, there was a large envelope addressed to James with a card inside saying that 30 pairs of shoes had been donated in his name to the shelter. James was touched so deeply that he began to cry.

From that year on, “Daddy’s Gift” was always the last to be opened on Christmas Day. Even their three boys would stop playing with their toys to see what wonderful gift daddy would get that year. Once, Lauren bought indoor hockey equipment and donated it to the local YMCA; another year 20 retarded children from the local help center were treated to a Broadway production.

Fifteen years after the first gift, tragedy struck Lauren’s family. James was hit and killed by a drunk driver in mid-July. Lauren was a strong woman and did a good job coping, but as Christmas drew near she grew more and more sad and withdrawn, not quite sure how she was going to deal with her first Christmas alone. Her three sons, now grown up and with their own families, all came with their wives and children to spend Christmas with her. She decided that no matter what she was going to be strong and not cry. But as Christmas morning dawned, her eyes welled up with tears as she saw three cards on the Christmas tree, all addressed “To Daddy.” Her three boys, knowing how much she missed James, had gone out and all done something in his honor.

 – Adapted from David’s Stories Page