The gift of a girl


One Sunday afternoon last December, Ann Sutton was overseeing a team of cooks worked in the kitchen. His son Mickey pulled a tray of cakes. JaKeilla His daughter and her boyfriend, Frank, stuck and removed from the oven cookies. In the midst of all was his younger daughter, Kinzie, a whirlwind of seven who would not stop nibbling crackers and throwing instructions from the table covered with green and red mats.

With a social worker mother and a young wizard father, his children had inherited their parents' commitment to service and knew not to ever take for granted their good fortune at Christmas. The median income for a household in the village of Kentucky (USA) where they lived was low, and the conversation at family dinners often revolve around neighboring families in need. Many customers from Ann had lost their jobs when the industry of houseboats in the area collapsed. Many others had not recovered from the setback of the mining industry.

Knowing how much they liked their children Christmas gifts, Ann always tried to seek help for one or two needy families. This year, Kinzie was happy that Santa Claus would make a special visit to a mother of 22 year-old named Ashley, who worked in a factory and took care for her newborn baby of 12 months, Evan and his brother, 12 years, Kenny.

A lively afternoon of that Sunday, the phone rang. A representative of a local organization called to say that assistance had been requested for Ashley Ann had not been heeded. There would be no Santa, no presents, nothing. Ann saw the joy fade from the faces of their children with the news. The verbiage of Kinzie faded. Without a word, he stepped down slide and ran to his room. In the silent kitchen, he stopped breathing an atmosphere of Christmas.

Kinzie returned with a face full of determination. He had opened his piggy bank and was counting the coins and crinkled dollar bills, one by one, on the kitchen table: 3,30 (about 2.25 euros). All I had. "Mom," he told Ann, "I know not much. But maybe, with this we can buy a baby gift.

At that point, everyone started to dig into their pockets and purses. Frank met Mickey and low-value bills and handfuls of coins. JaKeilla ran to her room and emptied her piggy bank shaped like a Wizard of Oz. Increasing the amount of Kinzie became a game and everybody started looking for coins. The shouts of joy filled the whole house Kinzie.

As the money piled on the kitchen table, Frank started collecting coins in paper envelopes. When the search ended, they had a mountain of bills and a neat stack of coins. Total: $ 130 (about 88 euros).

The next day at breakfast, Ann told his colleagues the latest draft of his daughter. To their surprise, the staff began to open their wallets and emptying their pockets to add more money to the initiative of Kinzie. The generosity was contagious. Throughout the day, Ann's colleagues were making contributions. Every time I got a little money, Ann called home. And with every word of his mother, Kinzie screamed into the phone and began to dance with joy like a madwoman.

At day's end, the story of Kinzie gift extended beyond the office of Ann. Received a call from an anonymous donor. If a child of seven could give everything I had said, he could at least that amount multiplied by 100. He contributed $ 300 (just over 200 euros). Therefore, a total had collected $ 500 (340 euros), enough to celebrate Christmas three people.

That afternoon, Kinzie was with his mother and his sister to spend the money. They bought pants, shirts, pajamas and basic things for the house. Also bought a pair of beautiful boots for a child of 12 years, a scarf for Ashley and lots of toys for the baby. Even had enough to buy food for Christmas dinner.

On Christmas Eve, Ann heavy rain led to the small trailer where the family lived, and put his car back toward the door. When Ashley opened it, found under the umbrella Ann and listened in amazement as congratulating him for Christmas. Then the gifts began to unload the car, giving them to Ashley, one by one.

Ashley started to laugh in disbelief, but the gifts kept coming. Ann left her umbrella and Ashley joined him in the rain, handing the gifts to Kenny. "Please, can I open tonight?" He implored. Soon the two women were deployed to the bone, and the surprise had given way to something deeper, a kind of joy that almost did mourn.

Reflecting on the generosity of the little girl, Ashley said he hoped that someday she could do something similar by someone else in need. "Kinzie could have used that money for herself, but gave it," Ashley said. "It's the kind of kid where I would like to become my son."


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