Each Valentine's Day our After-School Academy makes super-sized rice krispy hearts and sells them as a fundraiser. We put fruity pebbles in them to make them colorful and extra tasty. My high school used to do the same thing and I always remember being so excited when someone chose to send me one.
So, to carry on that tradition, each year, I make sure each of the kids I know in college receive one. I also try to think of people who have done good things for the After-School Academy without ever asking for a thing in return.
They're just rice krispy treats. Marshmallows, rice krispies, fruity pebbles, and butter. Mixed up, molded into a heart-shape, and wrapped with saran and a few ribbons if we have them.
Yet, after receiving them, a few people I know have refused to eat them. Ashley, a college student, kept hers in her refrigerator for an entire year. I know because she showed me when I was at her house a year later. She never ate it. For all I know, she still has it.
Rana, a resident in Roseland, watches out for me when I work late. When she sees my car there late, she calls to see when I'll be leaving, then comes over to make sure I get to my car safely. She, too, refused to eat hers until one of her children mistakenly took a bite out of her prized possession. She was devastated.
They cherish their gift. They cherish the thought.
As I watched the video (below) from Tony Campolo, I thought of them. I thought about people who don't take for granted the little things they receive in life. I wondered if Ashley and Rana knew that my gift to them was as much out of my gratefulness to them as their not eating it was to show their appreciation to me.
No comments:
Post a Comment