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VE3DDG > XMAS 24.12.06 21:11l 142 Lines 5612 Bytes #999 (0) @ WW
BID : 450930VE3DDG
Read: GUEST
Subj: The Dime - A Christmas Story
Path: DB0FHN<DB0RGB<DB0MRW<DK0WUE<7M3TJZ<TU5EX<I0TVL<IK1ZNW<VE3FJB
Sent: 061224/2001Z @:VE3FJB.#CON.ON.CAN.NOAM #:51701 [Barrie, ON] FBB
From: VE3DDG@VE3FJB.#CON.ON.CAN.NOAM
To : XMAS@WW
The Dime
(Author Unknown)
=============
Bobby was getting cold sitting in the snow out in his back
yard. He wasn't wearing boots as he didn't own any.
The thin sneakers he was wearing 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 house
hold 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 years old, 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
return home when suddenly his eyes caught the glimmer of the
setting sun's rays reflecting off 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, warmth spread throughout
his entire body and he walked into the first store he saw.
His excitement quickly turned cold when the clerk told him
that he couldn't buy anything with only a dime.
Then 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 stemmed, 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 him, Bobby
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."
The shop owner continued, "When I looked at him, I saw myself,
many years ago. I too, was a poor boy with nothing to buy for my
mother as a Christmas gift.
A bearded man, whose identity I never discovered, stopped me on
the street and gave me ten dollars to buy a gift for my mother.
When I saw that little boy tonight, I remembered the bearded man
of years ago, 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 the cold at all.
May this story instill the spirit of CHRISTmas in you at this
time of year.
Have a Joyous Christmas!
Cheers...
Darrell
VE3DDG @ VE3FJB
Message sent @ 19:34Z 24 Dec 2006
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