One of the gals is a second grade teacher at a nearby school, and she told a story about a student of hers.
“One of my students has been wearing a brand new pair of tennis shoes since he came back from Christmas break,” she shared. “They are three sizes too big, so he is always asking me to tighten the laces. A few weeks ago, I struck up a conversation with him and found out he had indeed received them for Christmas.”
“‘Those are beautiful shoes!'” I told him. “‘What else did you get for Christmas?”’ With pure joy, he proceeded to list all his presents, which included that pair of shoes, two new shirts, his ‘own’ bottle of shampoo, and his ‘own’ toothbrush. He was so thrilled that I couldn’t help but smile, but when I finished talking to him, I had to turn away to compose myself.”
All of us were tearing up as she finished the story. I just couldn’t stand thinking about that sweet little boy being without a toothbrush, so Mr. Handsome and I decided to give a toothbrush and tube of toothpaste to each of her students. She said the kids were absolutely thrilled.
Thinking back to my own childhood, I can tell you I wouldn’t have been that excited about receiving hygiene items for Christmas. Sometimes I forget that there are people out there who have so little. May we all remember not to take anything for granted, even something as seemingly small and insignificant as a toothbrush.