A Big Heart
My
Aunt Carolyn is an incredible storyteller.
When I was younger, my cousin Mitch and I would sit endlessly and listen
to my aunt tell stories of her childhood.
I remember one particular story that my aunt told from which I
discovered that she had a big heart even as a little girl. This story takes place in her hometown of
Waycross, Georgia when she was at the age of seven and my father, her brother,
was only three.
While growing up, my aunt had
beautiful, extravagant toys and a collection of expensive dolls from all around
the world. My father had a lot of toys
also but they did not compare to my aunt’s toys. Each day my aunt would walk across town and play with her friend,
Marie Dixson. One day Marie was sad
and told my aunt that she and her little brother did not have any toys. Feeling sorry for them, my aunt suggested to
Marie that she would go home and get her and her brother’s toys and give them
to her. Marie’s eyes lit up and she
quickly told my aunt that was a great idea.
With those words my aunt fled home, thinking of how she would pack up
her toys, those of her three-year-old brother, and head back to Marie’s.
When she got home, she ran to her
room and bagged up all but a couple of her favorite toys. She then proceeded to her brother’s room and
bagged all of his toys, including his favorite stuffed elephant that he slept
with each night. After gathering every
toy, my aunt dashed to the phone and dialed up her friend Marie. Marie was excited that my aunt had gathered
up all of her toys and told her to quickly meet her at the fence in her
backyard. With that, my aunt ran back
across town and up to Marie, who was standing impatiently at the fence. Aunt Carolyn swung the bag over to Marie,
turned around, and ran back home feeling great about the good deed that she had
just done.
As my aunt walked in the front door
she could hear her baby brother screaming at the top of his lungs. Her brother had just discovered in horror
that not only were all of his toys gone, but his favorite stuffed elephant was
also missing. Feeling a little guilty,
my aunt sadly confessed to her father what she had done. Infuriated, her father screamed at her to go
and get the “damn toys”. My aunt tried
explaining to him that it was too late and Marie and her little brother were
already playing with them. However, my
grandfather was not the type of person with whom you argued so she sadly dialed
Marie’s number.
Marie answered the phone happily as
ever and my Aunt Carolyn knew the reason why.
She sadly explained to Marie that she had to come and retrieve all of
they toys she had given her. Marie was
confused and asked her why? However,
she finally realized she must give them back.
She agreed to bag them back up and meet my aunt at the fence as soon as
possible. With that, my aunt ran back
across town to Marie who was at the fence standing sadly with the big sack of
wonderful toys. Slowly Marie swung the
sack back over to my Aunt Carolyn who turned around and ran back home. Although, my aunt had returned all of her
toys and those of her brother, (including his stuffed elephant) she still faced
the punishment of a spanking from my grandfather.
My aunt explained to my cousin and
me that while she was only trying to make her friend Marie happy, she was
giving away toys that her father had worked hard everyday in order to buy. Through the years my aunt has still managed
to keep her big heart but she often reminds us that even though it is nice to
give to others we must always be wary of people who might take advantage of a
big heart.