A Quarter from a Boy

I was out and about tonight. I'm sure I would not have turned heads; it was one of those days - kids home, friends over, plenty to do, wet dogs, you get the idea...So there I was, with two of my daughters (also looking mismatched and stained; they had been playing hard all day...) and we were waiting for a pizza to take home. Two other boys there with their mom were putting quarters in the little pinball machine and having fun. My daughters were watching with rapt attention. I had already told them no, I'm not giving you a quarter; the pizza will be ready soon and we'll go home. The boys played the machine twice each before their pizza was ready and their Mom said it was time to go. Without a blink, the older of the two boys turned to my five year old daughter and handed her two quarters. Here, he said. We have to go, it's your turn to play. I said to him, No, honey, your Mom would want that money back, and the Mom, not standing two feet away, heard her sons and my conversation and said, No, it's fine. Your girls can play, if it's okay with you. I didn't argue. I just said, Thank you, to the Mom and then Thank you to the boy. How sweet. How generous. How innocent. How Christ-like. Thank You.