Invest in Memories

At 42 years old, I have the most incredible memories of my dad around Valentine's Day. Honestly, with every holiday, I think about my dad and I can't help but smile. I have watched him over the years as he gives. He is an amazing gift giver throughout the whole year! The sweetest part is, it is not the expense he has put into it, but the thought.

As Valentine's Day rolled around this year, my daughter Landon, who is 10 years old, put in her gift request. Bracing myself for the wish list of normal kids nowadays, I was picturing a laptop or an iphone. I was pleasantly surprised when she said, "I want one of those red hearts with candy like Pops used to give you." I asked her for more details, surprised that she knew about my candy memories. She elaborated, "You know. The ones with the chocolate that you used to smush your fingers into to see what you were getting before you ate it." Obviously, I had bragged on my dad a time or two. The really cute part is that Landon is allergic to all nuts and assorted candy is not her friend. She wasn't thinking about the fact that carrying on my "finger smushing" tradition could cause her fingers to swell like balloons.

So, Ridley and I stopped by the candy aisle at the grocery last week in search of a heart full of assorted, nut free chocolate. That is hard to find but we were successful. We picked up something for all the kids. Even I am in favor of high fructose corn syrup once in a while (for a good memory making moment).

My Dad has always put time and thought into his gifts. You better be careful what you mention around my dad. He will hunt it down and seek it out just to bless you. Ask my mom how she felt when she opened her box of rose petals and a parade route map for the Rose Bowl parade trip she had always dreamed of. Ask my brother who has been the recipient of gifts where my dad stood in line for hours just to get an autograph. Ask this daughter who grew up loving football. My dad drove me to Atlanta before a Super Bowl just to see my favorite team (at the time the Buffalo Bills) in the lobby of their hotel. We didn't even have tickets. We drove back home in time for the game on t.v. Then on my 28th birthday, he took me to Buffalo so I could cheer for my team on home turf. He even agreed to walk to the tailgating parking lot to knock on Jim Kelly's RV. I had watched enough pre-game shows to recognize the quarterback's family RV when I saw it.

Whether it is taking roses to the bank tellers, pizza to a business that gives good service, dollar bills in toilet paper, or chocolate eclairs on your desk, you smile because you know Pops has been around. That's his gift. So as I sat down with Landon for her first smushing of the candy, I looked at that heart and realized how much God must love my dad. For 2 Corinthians 9:7 says "Each man should give what he has decided to give, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver." You don't have to smush my dad to see what you are really getting. What is on the inside is obvious from the outside.