Bobby was getting cold sitting out in his
back yard in the snow. Bobby didn't wear boots; he didn't like them and anyway he didn't
own any. The thin sneakers he wore had a few holes in them and they did a poor job of
keeping out the cold. Bobby had been in his backyard for about an hour already. And, try
as he might, he could not come up with an idea for his mother's Christmas gift.
He shook his head as he thought, "This is useless,
even if I do come up with an idea, I don't have any money to spend,"
Ever since his father had passed away three years ago,
the family of five had struggled. It wasn't because his mother didn't care, or try, there
just never seemed to be enough. She worked nights at the hospital, but the small wage that
she was earning could only be stretched so far. What the family lacked in money and
material things, they more than made up for in love and family unity. Bobby had two older
and one younger sister, who ran the house hold in their mother's absence. All three of his
sisters had already made beautiful gifts for their mother.
Somehow it just wasn't fair. Here it was Christmas Eve
already, and he had nothing. Wiping a tear from his eye, Bobby kicked the snow and started
to walk down to the street where the shops and stores were. It wasn't easy being six
without a father, especially when he needed a man to talk to.
Bobby walked from shop to shop, looking into each
decorated window. Everything seemed so beautiful and so out of reach. It was starting to
get dark and Bobby reluctantly turned to walk home when suddenly his eyes caught the
glimmer of the setting sun's rays reflecting off of something along the curb. He reached
down and discovered a shiny dime. Never before has anyone felt so wealthy as Bobby felt at
that moment.
As he held his new found treasure, a warmth spread
throughout his entire body and he walked into the first store he saw. His excitement
quickly turned cold when the salesperson told him that he couldn't buy anything with only
a dime.
He saw a flower shop and went inside to wait in line.
When the shop owner asked if he could help him, Bobby presented the dime and asked if he
could buy one flower for his mother's Christmas gift.
The shop owner looked at Bobby and his ten cent
offering. Then he put his hand on Bobby's shoulder and said to him, "You just wait
here and I'll see what I can do for you."
As Bobby waited he looked at the beautiful flowers and
even though he was a boy, he could see why mothers and girls liked flowers.
The sound of the door closing as the last customer left
jolted Bobby back to reality. All alone in the shop, Bobby began to feel alone and afraid.
Suddenly the shop owner came out and moved to the counter. There, before Bobby's eyes, lay
twelve long stem, red roses, with leaves of green and tiny white flowers all tied together
with a big silver bow. Bobby's heart sank as the owner picked them up and placed them
gently into a long white box.
"That will be ten cents young man," the shop
owner said reaching out his hand for the dime.
Slowly, Bobby moved his hand to give the man his dime.
Could this be true? No one else would give him a thing for his dime!
Sensing the boy's reluctance, the shop owner added,
"I just happened to have some roses on sale for ten cents a dozen. Would you like
them?"
This time Bobby did not hesitate, and when the man
placed the long box into his hands, he knew it was true. Walking out the door that the
owner was holding for Bobby, he heard the shop keeper say, "Merry Christmas,
son,"
As he returned inside, the shop keeper's wife walked
out. "Who were you talking to back there and where are the roses you were
fixing?"
Staring out the window, and blinking the tears from his
own eyes, he replied, "A strange thing happened to me this morning. While I was
setting up things to open the shop, I thought I heard a voice telling me to set aside a
dozen of my best roses for a special gift. I wasn't sure at the time whether I had lost my
mind or what, but I set them aside anyway. Then just a few minutes ago, a little boy came
into the shop and wanted to buy a flower for his mother with one small dime.
"When I looked at him, I saw myself, many years
ago. I too, was a poor boy with nothing to buy my mother a Christmas gift. A bearded man,
whom I never knew, stopped me on the street and told me that he wanted to give me ten
dollars.
"When I saw that little boy tonight, I knew who
that voice was, and I put together a dozen of my very best roses." The shop owner and
his wife hugged each other tightly, and as they stepped out into the bitter cold air, they
somehow didn't feel cold at all.
May this story instill the spirit of
Christmas in you enough
to pass this story along. Have a Joyous and Peace-filled season.
