Mint Tea

he'd been saving his pennies for weeks

patiently hoarding his coins, counting and re-counting to see if he had enough money

he wanted a mint tea with honey, from the school Snack Shack.

he tried to buy one two weeks in, but didn't have enough money.

"I need two dollars to buy the mint tea, Mom." he told me.

"Maybe tomorrow I'll have enough."

"How much money does the tooth fairy bring me for my tooth?  I'm saving for my mint tea."

finally, the day Gram sent him a card with a dollar bill tucked neatly inside, he had enough money.

the joy on his face was ridiculous when he discovered he had two dollars for his mint tea.

off he went to school, "Bye Mom! I'll have a great day because today I get to have my tea!"

when he came home, I asked him about it: "How was your much-anticipated mint tea?"

"Well," he said, "I was on my way to the snack shack to get it... and I saw my friend Ben.  He didn't have any money for the snack shack, so I gave him one of my dollars and we both got bagels."

"You didn't get your tea?"

"Nope. But Ben and I got bagels because they were only a dollar and we could each have one."


he saved for weeks, anticipated his treat... and the day he was finally going to have it, he shared his money with a friend.  he didn't boast or brag or even quite realize how generous it was of him.  to him, it was a simple statement of fact: he could share with a friend, and so he did. as natural as breathing.

I never knew I could be so proud of my son.