I was reminded this weekend why I love to write. Sharing stories and experiences in hopes of making people stop long enough to think and then possibly, if I am very lucky, they apply a smidgen of what I've shared to their own life.
Yesterday, my 15 year old nephew and 11 year old niece spent the entire afternoon planting flowers for me. There were a lot of flowers to plant, it was pretty damn hot and they did a 1st class job, right down to hosing off the deck when they were finished. Sometime during the afternoon, when I told them how much their help meant to me, my nephew replied off the cuff, ''No problem, Aunt Amy. It's our chance to give back.'' His sister nodded in agreement. Now, I'm sure their parents explained this to them, help Aunt Amy out, she's good to you, blah blah blah. But those two kids busted their tails for me all afternoon and the attitude they had about it was fantastic. Don't get me wrong, I'm no fool, their popular, fun, gorgeous kids and I'm sure planting flowers for me on a hot weekend wasn't 1st pick on their social agenda, but that made their attitudes matter to me even more.
The next time you are stopped at a stoplight in your hometown and you see a bunch of kids using obscene language, making fun of others, smoking, with giving back to anyone as foreign as a language they don't speak, think of my nephew and niece. Know that there are parents out there who are spending time with their kids, teaching them the tools needed for life, teaching them the gift of giving back, that not every young person of the upcoming generation feels entitled to everything while they give back nothing. We all can benefit from the gift of giving back.
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