I've been all bah humbuggy already this year. Just a few days after Thanksgiving and I'm dreaming of Easter. I didn't always used to be this way. I think I'm jaded.
All of this changed yesterday. All of it......
Let me preface this post by cluing you in on "mo-jo". My dear friend Kiki and I are always trying to please the gods for positive mo-jo. We do this by giving money to sweet little children that want money for various organizations that come to our door. I never have a problem giving money to the hot young highschool boys that are selling things for football camp (I'm such a Mrs. Robinson), it's the little kids that I have a hard time saying yes to. Kiki and I have both suffered serious consequences when being stingy with our dough. The last time I refused to fork out the cash for a sweet little Chinese-American girl in a girl scout outfit, nearly every appliance in my house was broken within 24 hours. I shit you not.
Yesterday I had the pleasure of having a little girl (about 8) come to my door with lemon-poppy seed cakes. This is what she said to me....*very slowly with correct pronunciation*
"Hello. My name is Sally. I'm selling lemon-poppy seed cakes today. I am raising money so that I can continue my piano and viola lessons. Would you like a sample?"
*Opens up container inside of basket and hands me a sample*
Me: "Oh! How much are they?"
Sally: "The cakes are one for $5, two for $10, three for $15 or four for $20."
Me : "Hold on, I will go get my money."
Me: "Do you live around here?"
Sally: "No. I live in Trent." *Not it's real town name. But I must say....it's at least an hour's drive away. Here in the Northwest, that means she lives in the mountains in the middle of butt-fuck nowhere.*
Me: "Wow! You traveled a long way. I play piano too. It's a lot of fun!"
Sally: "Maybe I can play for you sometime!"
Me: "I would love that! Have a great day."
And off she trudged down my steps, basket in hand with pants on two sizes too big......
I then waited five minutes and then called up Kiki. I wanted to see if she bought some bread. We both need some major mo-jo these days. It ends up Kiki didn't buy any bread, but gave her money anyway.
Fast forward six hours later. It's dark and cold and about 8:00 in the evening. Our doorbell rings and here is Sally with her older sister Susan (about 10) and little brother Will (maybe 6). They had spent all day roaming our neighborhood earning money for all of their lessons. They also said they pay for their instruments too.
Sweet little Sally came by to play for me. And she did. Beautifully.
Then Susan asked if she could play too. Amazing!
Their Mom says that her husband travels the hour long commute (with lots of snow in the winter) every day to the Metropolis for work. She stays home with the kids and home-schools them and twice a week they come to the Metropolis for lessons. They finish up about 7pm, two nights a week because they play in honor orchestra at a local school.
They came to play for our family. They came out of the goodness of their sweet little hearts to put on a mini-concert and share their love of music and their appreciation for us buying the cakes they made.
With all of the commercialism and crap that Christmas brings every year, I received a Christmas gift that won't be forgotten for many years to come.
A little girl and her determination for all that is good in the world.......
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6 comments:
saptastic!
Aah, I'm so damn jaded I thought you were going to say how she ended up ripping you off and yada yada.....
Oh brother I am really getting bad aren't I? A nice story I assume the worst. Bad Margaret!!!!
I'm going to hell in a hand basket as my grandmother used to say.
Carlos-Yes, a real sappy post. Not your favorite, I know.
Peggy-I'll meet you there...In hell that is.
OMG - that little girl came to my door about six months ago - with banana bread! I remember the perfect pronunciation and it was obvious she had been practicing her pitch. I liked her sample presentation - she had a little bowl of toothpicks so one could easily grab a bite of banana bread. I bought a couple of loaves. That is so cute that she came back with her siblings to play for you. I was a little skeptical, and thought maybe her mom was pimping her for meth money, but I had a feeling that it was all on the up and up. Maybe because I played violin and piano at her age - I was fortunate that my parents could afford the lessons and instruments, I now realize. For Christmas last year and this, everybody in my family is either going shopping with me for petfood to donate to the local humane society, or I am sponsoring an animal for them in their name through Best Friends Animal Society. We all have way too much crap - no more crap!
Judy-I agree. NO MORE CRAP! How great that you and your family are donating to animals. That rocks!
WOW...what a story! Sadly, I too was waiting for the part where you got ripped off or the cakes were laced with marijuana. Oh, wait...that might've been nice. But I digress.
What a great kick in the pants to get you into the giving, loving, compassionate spirit! The fact that they came back to bless you with the gift of their talent is very moving. Thank you for posting this, T. No more humbug here either!
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