Stories>Numbers
Don’t tell my bookkeeper. I’m supposed to be pulling some numbers together for her. There is a long list of things I’d rather do than crunch numbers, so I will tell you this story instead:
Things were busy in May for us in the CookieText kitchen, so this story has been on hold for a bit. In the midst of back to school and Mother’s Day orders, I got a text from a friend. Lori said she had ordered a CookieText®, but that she was going to have to send me a separate email about it.
See, her youngest daughter, Caroline, and her friend Elizabeth had been hard at work. Something had happened to their friend, Mary. I’m not sure if the young girl had been injured or was sick, but Caroline and Elizabeth had decided they would like to send a CookieText® to Mary to help her feel better. This was to be no ordinary CookieText®, however.
Designers in the Making
I am not sure if it was in school or on the playground, but at some point, Caroline and Elizabeth put colored pencils to paper. They carefully designed a CookieText® so that it would look just how they wanted for their friend.
Lori had taken a photo of their drawing (which was slightly crumpled from some time in a backpack), and emailed it to me. I smiled at the photo and thought, we could do that, no problem.
As this was designed by very hip grade-school girls, there were lots of hearts and it had several colors. These girls are clearly not afraid to get in the game, though, because the Cookie was also designed to represent what must be Mary’s favorite team, Virginia Tech.
As I decorated the CookieText® I was a little proud that I ran a company where people could order an item that tastes good, expresses care, and that these young girls had the confidence that we could make their vision come to “life”.
A Lesson in Caring
Then I took a moment to think about these girls, and how kind and thoughtful they were being toward their friend. To think to send Mary something was caring. To design it themselves, that took creativity, and a good bit of effort on their part. If I was either of the girls’ parents I would have been very proud of them.
Then I remembered something. I know Lori and her family from years of our sons playing soccer together. Caroline has food allergies. I remembered in that moment that Caroline has never eaten a CookieText®. She can’t, she is allergic to some of the ingredients.
What an incredible selfless expression of love for another, to give them something so carefully designed and thought out, that you yourself could never have. I shed a tear or two there as the full realization of the girls gift came into my awareness.
What beautiful girls and what a selfless expression of love they showed their friend. We in the cookie kitchen were quickly reminded that we have so very much to learn from the young.
So here’s a long overdue thank you to Caroline and Elizabeth. Thank you both, especially these days, for reminding us to love our neighbor, to express kindness, and that sometimes we all should put others before ourselves.
It’s not how much we give but how much LOVE we put into giving. ~Mother Teresa