As the holidays near I am reminded of a story I heard on the power of words.

The story goes that there was a man who got upset with his five-year-old daughter for using up the family’s only roll of shiny red foil wrapping paper. Money was tight, and on Christmas Eve when he saw that the child had used the special paper to decorate a box she’d put under the Christmas tree, he lost his temper and punished her.

Nevertheless, the next morning the little girl, filled with excitement, brought the gift box to her father and said, “This is for you, Daddy!” As he saw the box, the father was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, now regretting that he’d punished her.

But when he opened the box he found it was empty, and his anger flared again. “Don’t you know, young lady,” he said harshly, “when you give someone a present there’s supposed to be something inside the package!”

The little girl looked up at him, sad tears rolling from her eyes, and whispered, “Daddy, it’s not empty. I blew kisses into it until it was all full.” The father was crushed. He fell to his knees and put his arms around his precious little girl. He begged her to forgive him for his unnecessary anger.

The father kept that shiny red box by his bed for all the years of his life. Whenever he was discouraged or faced difficult problems, he would open the box, take out an imaginary kiss, and remember the love of the beautiful child who had put it there.

As we are each given the opportunity of connecting with family and friends over the holiday season, my hope is that we will use the magnificent power of words to express to those closest to us how much we care about them and appreciate their being in our lives.

Happy Holidays from Avril and Frank!

WB Group: Avril Wendt & Frank Bertucca

Keller Williams Referred Urban Realty, Brokerage   416-572-1016