The cheerful girl with bouncy golden curls was almost
five. Waiting with her mother at the checkout stand,
she saw them: a circle of glistening white pearls in
a pink foil box.
"Oh please, Mommy. Can I have them? Please, Mommy,
please!"
Quickly, the mother checked the back of the little
foil box and then looked back into the pleading blue
eyes of her little girl's upturned face.
"A dollar ninety-five. That's almost $2.00. If you
really want them, I'll think of some extra chores for
you and in no time you can save enough money to buy
them for yourself. Your birthday's only a week away
and you might get another crisp dollar bill from your
Grandma."
As soon as Jenny got home, she emptied her piggy bank
and counted out 17 pennies. After dinner, she did
more than her share of chores and she went to the
neighbor and asked Mrs. McJames if she could pick
dandelions for ten cents. On her birthday, Grandma
did give her another new dollar bill and at last she
had enough money to buy the necklace.
Jenny loved her pearls. They made her feel dressed up
and grown up. She wore them everywhere--Sunday
school, kindergarten, even to bed. The only time she
took them off was when she went swimming or had a
bubble bath. Mother said if they got wet, they might
turn her neck green.
Jenny had a very loving daddy and every night when
she was ready for bed, he would stop whatever he was
doing and come upstairs to read her a story.
One night when he finished the story, he asked Jenny,
"Do you love me?"
"Oh yes, Daddy. You know that I love you."
"Then give me your pearls."
"Oh, Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have
Princess--the white horse from my collection. The one
with the pink tail. Remember, Daddy? The one you gave
me. She's my favorite."
"That's okay, Honey. Daddy loves you. Good night."
And he brushed her cheek with a kiss.
About a week later, after the story time, Jenny's
daddy asked again, "Do you love me?"
"Daddy, you know I love you."
"Then give me your pearls."
"Oh Daddy, not my pearls. But you can have my baby
doll. The brand new one I got for my birthday. She is
so beautiful and you can have the yellow blanket that
matches her sleeper."
"That's okay. Sleep well. God bless you, little one.
Daddy loves you." And, as always, he brushed her
cheek with a gentle kiss.
A few nights later when her daddy came in, Jenny was
sitting on her bed with her legs crossed
Indian-style. As he came close, he noticed her chin
was trembling and one silent tear rolled down her
cheek.
"What is it, Jenny? What's the matter?"
Jenny didn't say anything but lifted her little hand
up to her daddy. And when she opened it, there was
her little pearl necklace. With a little quiver, she
finally said, "Here, Daddy. It's for you."
With tears gathering in his own eyes, Jenny's kind
daddy reached out with one hand to take the
dime-store necklace, and with the other hand he
reached into his pocket and pulled out a blue velvet
case with a strand of genuine pearls and gave them to
Jenny. He had had them all the time. He was just
waiting for her to give up the dime-store stuff so he
could give her genuine treasure.
(Author is unknown to me [this story
was sent to me via e-mail, author unknown]--if
someone would be so kind as to notify me of the
author's name, I will be glad to give credit to them
here. Or, if whoever owns the rights to this story
[with proof] wishes--I will [sadly] remove it from my
web site.)