Long walk. Part of gift.

I want to share a story I recently heard.

The story was about a child who gave a sea shell to his or her teacher as a gift.  The child's teacher accepted the shell and commented how beautiful the shell is and how it looked like something the child could have only gotten from a place far away from where they were.  The child said this was correct and told the teacher where it came from and named a beach far away.  The teacher said the child should not have gone all that way to get the shell as a gift.  The child said, "Long walk.  Part of gift".  The moral of the story was that during holiday seasons or when giving gifts, we often give physical gifts such as books, toys, clothes, etc. but to remember to look beyond those gifts at who gave them to us and remember that there are always family and friends who take long walks with us.  Those people who give us gifts when the gifts are gone, when the clothes are outgrown, or the books are read, or the toys are broken or passed on to others because they are also outgrown, those people are still there, they have made a commitment to take a "long walk" with us through life, stand by our side when we have loss, when we have gain, during happy and sad times, those people who given the gifts are really what giving is about, not just the gifts.   Hope you enjoyed this story like I did.

And always remember, "Long walk.  Part of gift".