Gratitude for $2.15

Ok.......so a dear friend of mine, Katherine, and her (also dear) husband Steve, have 2 beautiful sons. The oldest is turning 5 and we were invited to his birthday party at "pump it up" today. If you live in Nashville, Brentwood, or Franklin....you need to take your kids. It's an awesome party.

I'll confess.....we didn't bring a gift for Scott. That is AWFUL...but my plans got derailed yesterday when I intended to buy his gift....because Shawn ended up at the doctor instead of at the babysitters...so what do ya do? I walked in with my guilt and told Katherine....at least I wasn't ashamed to show my face and I allowed my kids to come and play, eat, and drink....at her expense. Yea, I'm a GREAT friend!

So, what's up with gratitude for $2.15? I'm getting there. Just chill...

On the way to Brentwood, Asher was still hungry so we went to McDonalds for a "bixit". There is only 1 drive-through, but there are 2 entries...... and sometimes its a game of chicken with another vehicles' driver. I was faced with this today. Actually, she was there first....but she had a long line of cars behind her. I knew that from my position, most likely, no one was going to let me in. But the lady who was there first, waved me through. I found that to be somewhat remarkable! Holy Moly! In this world of "me, me, me", "I was here first", "Get back, Jack!".....this kind young lady let me go first. I also want to point out to you that she was driving a beat up car, and she did not have a smile on her face. Why did she let me in when she didn't have to? Well......I bought our "bixits" and I bought hers too. She didn't know I had a desperate toddler in the back seat going through his terrible 3's, who might have died had I driven away. She didn't know I was going to be late to dear Scott's birthday party.

I watched her smile in my rear-view-mirror. She was so touched.

Fast forward to the end of Scott's party, where Asher complained about the pizza and the lemonade.....remember the party where Asher didn't bring a gift (oops), and oh, he wouldn't even tell Scott happy birthday. The party where Asher took advantage of all the fun stuff....but couldn't even show $2.15 cents worth of gratitude. Holy moly! When Asher turns 4, he won't be 3 anymore and that will be a nice thing.

I'm writing this to remind you not to rush. Don't forget your manners. Be polite, even when it doesn't make sense. We can all afford to express free gratitude......but go ahead and spend $2.15 if you need to. You might make someone smile in the rear-view-mirror!