dime

  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.

  Bobbys 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 side 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

  act along.

-anonymous