The Golden Box

[Guest guest]

The story goes that some time ago, a man punished his five-year-old

daughter for wasting a roll of expensive gold wrapping paper. Money was

tight, and he became upset when the child pasted the gold paper on a box to

put under the Christmas tree.

Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift box to her father the next

morning

and said, " This is for you, Daddy " . The father was embarrassed by his

overreaction the day before, but his anger flared again when he found the box

was empty. In a harsh tone, he said, " Don't you know, young lady, when you

give someone a present there's supposed to be something inside the

package? "

The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and said, " Oh Daddy,

it's

not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was full. " The father was crushed.

He

fell on his knees, put his arms around his little girl, and begged her to

forgive

him for his unnecessary anger. An accident took the life of the child only a

short time later, and it is said that the father kept that gold box by his bed

for

the rest of his life. Whenever he was discouraged or faced difficult problems,

he would open the box, 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 has been given a golden box filled with

unconditional love and kisses from our children, family, and friends. There is

no more precious possession anyone could hold.

Cherish your children this Christmas.