I know you guys don't like forwards but I thought you might make an 
exception for this one.  It really touched my heart and made me understand 
just what Christmas is all about!
Merry Christmas from
Virgie and Hoshi
----- Original Message ----- 
From: "rcuster" <[log in to unmask]>
To: "Patti Custer" <[log in to unmask]>; <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Wednesday, December 13, 2006 8:44 AM
Subject: the dime


There's A Reason For The Season
The 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 household in their 
mother's
absence. 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 noticed 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 
neatly
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 open 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 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 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 the cold at all.
May this story instill the spirit of CHRISTmas in you enough to pass this 
act along
Have a Joyous and Peace-filled season.


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