A Brother Like That

A man named Paul had received a new car as a Christmas gift. The night before, when Paul left his office, there was a boy looking around close to the amazing and astounding car, which he gawked with admiration.

- "Is this your car, Sir?" – The boy asked.
- Paul nodded. – "My brother gave it to me for Christmas."

The boy was amazed. – "You mean that your brother gave it to you for free? Wow! You are lucky, I wish…" (The boy sighed…).

Naturally, Paul thought he knew the boy’s wish. “The young boy wishes he had a brother like that” thought Paul, but what the boy said left Paul paralyzed from head to toes.

- “I wish” – the boy continued – “I were a brother like that.”

Paul looked at the boy stunned, and added, impulsively: “Would you like to ride in my car?”

“Oh, yes, Sir, I’d love it!”

After a short ride, the boy turned to Paul and with sparkling eyes said: “Sir would it be a bother if you went by my house?”

Paul smiled. He thought he knew what the boy wanted to do… that the boy wanted to show to his neighbors that he could arrive home in a big, beautiful car. However, this time too Paul was wrong.

- “Can you park right where those two steps are?” asked the boy. He ran up the steps. After a few minutes, Paul heard him coming back, but he was not moving fast. The boy was carrying his handicapped little brother. He sat him on the lower steps, and then he hugged him and pointed towards the car.

“That is ‘Buddy’ (the car) as I told you upstairs. His brother gave it to him for Christmas and it did not cost him a penny. Some day, I will give you a car like that… and then you will be able to see all the beautiful things there are in the stores during Christmas… of which I have told you about.”

Paul got out of the car and sat the little boy on the front seat of the car. His older brother was euphoric… and the three of them went on the most memorable ride of their lives. That Christmas Night, Paul understood what Jesus meant when he said: “It’s better to give than to receive…”

Taken from the book Chocolate caliente para el Alma.