It is the first holiday of the fall season that is full of fun for kids and adults alike.
So imagine in the midst of this fun and excitement...Halloween turning kind of sucky.
That is what happened to our neighbors who live at the entrance of our subdivision. They have a 2 year old son who is at the age where he is starting to understand the world around him. He knew something called "Halloween" was about to happen. He loved his pumpkins that were outside of his front door.
That is...until the day the family woke up and found their 3 pumpkins missing. Someone stole their pumpkins. Other than this being pathetic, ridiculous and mean it made this little boy VERY upset. His pumpkins were gone.
Now, some of you may think yes, stealing is wrong...but get over it. I beg to differ. I can imagine the parents so excited to share this brand new experience with their son and then some mean person takes the magic away and reminds them of how down right crappy some people can be.
We only learned of this situation after these neighbors posted a large sign on their grass thanking the thief for stealing their pumpkins and making their son cry. Was the sign a little overboard...maybe...but as a parent I could imagine their frustration. Your son loves the pumpkins...they get stolen...why would you want to buy more pumpkins to possibly have them stolen again?
Now, how do I fit into this story.
As I was driving home from the store I saw their sign. I felt bad. I told my other half what I saw and we thought it would be funny if we bought pumpkins and anonymously put them on their front porch to replace the stolen ones. It was said more in a joking manner until later that day when I decided I was going to re-write the ending to their story.
We have never met these neighbors, but I knew how to make it better. I bought two pumpkins from the store, jazzed them up and snuck them onto their front porch. The tag said, "Happy Halloween - Katie & Vince."
The moral of this story is to think how you can re-write the ending to someones story to make it a happy one. Years from now when this family looks back on the Halloween of 2012 they will remember having their pumpkins stolen, only to have the kindness of strangers replace them.
The pumpkins that were stolen are now only a detail to the story. The complete surprise of brand new pumpkins showing up on their doorstep is the happy ending.
It's March...not October. I know. The the idea is universal.
Look for ways everyday to create a new happy ending!
Who has done this lately & what did you do?
Look for ways everyday to create a new happy ending!
Who has done this lately & what did you do?
I LOVE this! You definitely changed the way their story ended and probably made them feel a lot better about humanity and strangers in general by doing so. Thanks for the inspiration.
ReplyDeleteEmily (visiting from myloveforwords.com)