Little Ginger Breadcrumbs was excited about presents, so she bounced on the couch and laughed a lot. Her mommy finally picked a little present from under the tree and gave it to Ginger with a smile. Ginger opened the tiny box and inside ... inside ... was this tiny snow-globe that was bright and cheerful and just snowy globie perfect! Ginger loves it so much, and she did a big smile. Her mommy smiled back, and her eyes sparkled. They sparkled!
"Mommy, mommy, why do your eyes sparkle like that?""Well," Gloria said with a wink, "Rather than tell you, I'll show you how it works. It's time for you to understand a bit more about such beautiful things, now that your getting old enough, and five is definitely old enough."
"So," Gloria said as she sat down next to the tree, "I see there's a present under the tree for me ... from you!"
"Yes, yes, yes, here it is, here it is! Open it, open it!" And Ginger handed the box to her mommy.
Inside the box, Gloria found a picture Ginger had drawn. It was of the family in front of their gingerbread house, and all of them were smiling. Mommy Gloria Breadcrumbs, daddy Whole Wheat Breadcrumbs, little Ginger Breadcrumbs, and baby sister Rainbow Breadcrumbs. It was a delightful drawing, and mommy just loved it, and she smiled. And Ginger's eyes sparkled! They SPARKLED!And suddenly, Ginger understood. She'd given her mommy a gift because she loved her mommy so much, and she just sparkled when her mommy liked it.
Giving and gifts, loving and sharing, all are deep and meaningful, but it's not about gifts. A gift can be big or small, fancy or simple, and it doesn't matter. It's not about the gift, it's about love in the giving.
So then, what's the lesson in the story? It's that the best choice is always to love each other, because love is huge, and it makes a huge difference in a sometimes fussy world.
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For Ruby Marie, learning and growing so wonderfully well all the way up to five.
I love you dearly,
Grampa