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 household 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
salesperson after salesperson told him that he
could not 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 keepers 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.
