THE GOLD BOX

Some time ago a friend of mine punished his 3-year-old daughter
for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper. Money was tight, and
he became infuriated when the child tried to decorate a box to put
it under their Christmas tree.

Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her father
the next morning and said, "This is for you daddy." He was
embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared
again when he found that the box was empty.

He yelled at her, "Don't you know that when you give someone
a present, there's supposed to be something inside of it?"

The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and
said, "Oh daddy, it's not empty. I blew kisses into the box.
All for you Daddy."

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl,
and again begged her forgiveness.

My friend told me that he kept that gold box by his bed for
years. Whenever he was discouraged, he would take out an
imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put
it there.

In a very real sense, each of us as parents has been given
a gold container filled with unconditional love and kisses from
our children. No more precious possession could anyone hold...