Toothless Grin
I was doing some last-minute Christmas shopping in a toy store and
decided to look at Barbie dolls for my nieces.
A nicely-dressed little girl was excitedly looking through the Barbie
dolls as well, with a roll of money clamped tightly in her little hand.
When she came upon a Barbie she liked, she would turn and ask her father if
she had enough money to buy it. He usually said "yes," but she would keep
looking and keep going through their ritual of "do I have enough?"
As she was looking, a little boy wandered in across the aisle and
started sorting through the Pokemon toys.
He was dressed neatly, but in clothes that were obviously rather worn,
and wearing a jacket that was probably a couple of sizes too small. He,
too, had money in his hand, but it looked to be no more than five dollars
or so, at the most.
He was with his father as well, and kept picking up the Pokemon video
toys. Each time he picked one up and looked at his father, his father
shook his head, "no."
The little girl had apparently chosen her Barbie, a
beautifully-dressed, glamorous doll that would have been the envy of every
little girl on the block.
However, she had stopped and was watching the interchange between the
little boy and his father. Rather dejectedly, the boy had given up on the
video games and had chosen what looked like a book of stickers instead. He
and his father then started walking through another aisle of the store.
The little girl put her Barbie back on the shelf, and ran over to the
Pokemon games. She excitedly picked up one that was lying on top of the
other toys, and raced toward the check-out, after speaking with her father.
I picked up my purchases and got in line behind them.
Then, much to the little girl's obvious delight, the little boy and
his father got in line behind me.
After the toy was paid for and bagged, the little girl handed it back
to the cashier and whispered something in her ear. The cashier smiled and
put the package under the counter.
I paid for my purchases and was rearranging things in my purse when
the little boy came up to the cashier. The cashier rang up his purchases
and then said, "Congratulations, you are my hundredth customer today, and
you win a prize!"
With that, she handed the little boy the Pokemon game, and he could
only stare in disbelief.
It was, he said, exactly what he had wanted!
The little girl and her father had been standing at the doorway during
all of this, and I saw the biggest, prettiest, toothless grin on that
little girl that I have ever seen in my life. Then they walked out the
door, and I followed, close behind them.
As I walked back to my car, in amazement over what I had just
witnessed, I heard the father ask his daughter why she had done that. I'll
never forget what she said to him.
"Daddy, didn't Nana and PawPaw want me to buy something that would
make me happy?"
He said, "Of course they did, honey."
To which the little girl replied, "Well, I just did!"
With that, she giggled and started skipping toward their car.
Apparently, she had decided on the answer to her own question of, "do I
have enough?"
I feel very privileged to have witnessed the true spirit of Christmas
in that toy store, in the form of a little girl who understands more about
the reason for the season than most adults I know!
May God bless her and her parents, just as she blessed that little
boy, and me, that day!
[ Sharon Palmer (sharon-palmer@mindless.com) -- from 'A HeartWarmer' ]
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