Butterfly Kisses

We often learn the most from our children. Some time
ago, a friend of mine punished his 3-year-old
daughter for wasting a roll of gold wrapping paper.
Money was tight, and he became infuriated when the
child tried to decorate a box.

Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift to her
father the next morning and said, "This is for you,
Daddy."  He was embarrassed by his earlier
overreaction, but his anger flared again when he
found that the box was empty.

He yelled at her, "Don't you know that when you give
someone a present, there's supposed to be something
inside of it?"

The little girl looked up at him with tears in her
eyes and said, "Oh Daddy, it's not empty. I blew
kisses into the box. All for you, Daddy." The father
was crushed. He put his arms around his little girl
and he begged her forgiveness. My friend told me that
he kept that gold box by his bed for years. Whenever
he was discouraged, he would 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 as parents has been
given a gold container filled with unconditional love
and kisses from our children. There is no more
precious possession anyone could hold.


credited to Julia Bargeron