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.
anna banana
that is the sweetest thank you for sharing that with us
nashvillewife@gmail.com
My pleasure, Anna. Glad you enjoyed it!
Ellie
Anonymous
That reminds me of the song "Sir I Wanna Buy these Shoes". So sweet!
Odie Boggs
It is playing in my head too. ๐
nashvillewife@gmail.com
I love that song! I kept hoping to hear it on the radio over Christmas, but I never did. I don't think it's as popular as it used to be.
Ellie
Shela G
Thank you Ellie for sharing this touching story. What a great reminder to all us of how blessed we truley are. We do often forget How many good things we have to be thankful for.
nashvillewife@gmail.com
You are so right, Shela. The world would be such a different place if we all made a point to sit down every day and count our blessings.
Ellie
Ann
Thank you for this post Elli and THANK YOU SO MUCH for reminding us that we should to be thankful for even the little things! Because we have soooo much we sometimes take everything for granted! Thanks again and love greetings from germany
nashvillewife@gmail.com
Hello Ann,
Yes, we take way too many things for granted. Thanks for reading all the way from Germany! What part of the country do you live in? I have relatives near the northern Netherlands border/North Sea.
Ellie
Ann
Hay Lilly and Ellie! That's really cool to hear that your family lives so close to me! I live in the northern part of germany! My family often goes on vacation to the north sea! It's a 3 to five hour drive! Depends on where we go!
nashvillewife@gmail.com
Very neat! Germany is a beautiful country. We loved touring all the castles and old cities when my family visited (almost 15 years ago).
Ellie
Ann
Ja, I'm really thankful that I could grew up and live in this country!
Ann
You are more than welcome to visit us (again)!
Anonymous
Hi Ellie. You're right, sometimes we are so busy to list the things we don't have that we forget how lucky we are to have a home, a job and our basic needs covered. Thank you for the reminder.
Anne
nashvillewife@gmail.com
So glad you enjoyed the story, Anne. ๐
Ellie
Saj
He sounds like a really special kid. Thank you for sharing. It's very humbling.
nashvillewife@gmail.com
It's my pleasure, Saj. I was very humbled hearing it, as well.
Ellie
Anonymous
That was so sweet! Thank you for reminding us all that we should always be grateful. Keep up the good blogging work!
nashvillewife@gmail.com
Glad you enjoyed it. Thanks for the encouragement, and thanks for reading!
Ellie
Anonymous
Beyond being thankful for what you have, remember to actually act on these problems when you hear about them, the way Ellie did.
Can you get your husband's dental practice to expand that give-away to the entire school? If the problem is in that classroom, I guarantee you it's in others, too. Talking to the dental supply reps could yield a boat-load of supplies. Or you could take up a collection at work or church to buy what's needed. (I'm surprised Colgate or Procter & Gamble don't already have such a giveaway in place. Maybe they do? Worth finding out.)
If you look further at that school, you'll probably also find the need for food, clothing, and school supplies. I work with my local school to fill needs through a back-to-school supply drive, a clothing & shoe closet (run through the school counselor with the utmost of privacy for the children and their parents), and a weekend food supply, donated on Fridays, to see the children through when the cafeteria isn't open (ditto on being discrete).
This only scratches the surface of the needs in our community, though. It's staggering. Instead of worrying so much about who's coming into the country, we should be worrying more about who's already here, and what day-to-day difficulties they're going through.
Anonymous
Thank you for sharing how your school helps its students, that's wonderful! And thankyou Ellie for sharing this story. It's very easy to forget how much so many of us have.
Bee x
nashvillewife@gmail.com
Those are all great ideas. It sounds like you do a lot of good in your community! My husband doesn't own the dental practice, or else I would have loved to give toothbrushes to all the kids. We are new to the area and still figuring things out, but we are working on finding volunteer opportunities. Your comment was very encouraging. ๐
Ellie
Anonymous
Great story. I'm a single mom and always tell my son that we are rich because we have enough…actually more than enough. We live in a "palace". I'm the queen and he is my prince! It helps us feel better for not having a husband/father with us.
nashvillewife@gmail.com
Sounds like you are teaching your son very important values. God bless you!
Ellie
Anonymous
To the single mom, I too am a single mom of one son. How sweet of you to teach him about having enough! Its always been my son and I his whole life. All you can do is do your best, and he will thank you in many ways when he is older, as my son has done!
Anonymous
I work in the public school system, and you would be amazed at the number of kids that come to school with dirty clothes, unwashed hair, and for a lot of them the cafeteria food will be all they eat for the day. So many of these children are starved for affection. Sad situation. There are also high school students who couch cruise for a place to sleep for whatever reason. When children wear their jackets and never take them off, even in warm weather, there is a reason for it.
Anonymous
Doesn't your PTA/PTO do anything to help? Do you have a food bank or other food distribution organization that can start a school-based program for food to take home? Any businesses in the area that could contribute goods or services? Anyone around to mentor the kids and give them some attention & lessons in self-worth? Even little chips at these problems can help someone.
nashvillewife@gmail.com
It's so sad to see things like that. I'm sure you are making a difference in people's lives just by being in that environment and shining your light.
God bless!
Ellie
Anonymous
This post made me think about how even in my own school that there are kids that are less fortunate than me. Thank you Ellie for opening my eyes to those around.
nashvillewife@gmail.com
I'm glad you enjoyed it!
Ellie
Anonymous
Aww this is so sweet! Thanks for your post.
nashvillewife@gmail.com
It's my pleasure. ๐
Ellie
Anonymous
Why don't you ladies join in on the game? I'm sure it would be great exercise. Or you can start your own league! Just because your female, doesn't mean you have to sit on the bleachers!!
Anonymous
Just because they didn't play in that game doesn't mean they don't play at all.
Anonymous
How do you know that they wouldn't rather sit on the bleachers than play the game? I don't care for sports, myself, so I'd rather talk.
nashvillewife@gmail.com
I don't really enjoy playing basketball, but if I did it would be fun to start a league. The guys are all very tall and very good, so a co-ed league wouldn't work too well. ๐
Ellie