Some time ago, a man yelled at his 3-year-old daughter for wasting a roll of gold leaf paper. The gold paper was worth a lot, and he had planned to sell it to buy gifts. Money was tight, and he became irritated when the child tried to decorate a box to put under the Christmas tree for him.
The note on top said, “This is for you, Daddy.” The man became embarrassed by his overreaction earlier, but his frustration continued when he saw that the box was empty. He was tired from working so hard, low on money and patience when he said to his daughter, “Don’t you know, when you give someone a present, there is supposed to be something inside?”
The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and said, “Oh, it’s not empty at all. I blew kisses into the box. They’re all for you, Daddy.”The father crushed, put his arms around his little girl, and he begged for her forgiveness.
Her father kept the gold box by his bed for the rest of his life and, whenever he was discouraged, frustrated, or didn’t understand the actions of others, he would take out an imaginary kiss and remember with fondness the lesson his daughter had taught him, that the most precious gift in the world is love.
