It was an eventful winter. That’s for sure. My father and I hadn’t gotten along for a long time. We were bound to have a showdown at some point. I never expected that it would happen the way it did.

An even bigger surprise for me was that my father would accept Selena into the family. Even though she took me away from the family business. I guess the fact that she had saved my life had something to do with it.

With my Father’s blessing, we got married and moved from British Columbia to our new home in Gladstone, Manitoba, Canada. We had found a good opportunity to purchase a hardware store there, so we took it. I wish I could say that we lived happily ever after. But, I’ll have to admit it. Changing my way of life was a challenge. I had been used to having enough money on hand to buy everything I wanted. It was tough to learn how to make do with only what we could make at the store.

Some days that wasn’t much.

To be honest, it was a challenge that often brought my temper to the surface. One day was particularly bad. Full of anger and frustration, I stomped out of our place of business. That’s when I met them.

“Good afternoon!” Two cheerful boys were standing before me. In my state of mind, the only thing worse than a boy was two cheerful boys.

“Can you spare a quarter sir?” The younger boy said this as he extended cupped hands toward me. He was a cute-looking child, I couldn’t deny that, but that fact wasn’t a good enough reason to show mercy.

“No! I earned my money and I’m going to keep every penny of it.”

“But mister…”

“But nothing! I’ve given you my answer…now leave me alone!”

What kind of parents would let their children beg for money in downtown Gladstone? That was the question burning in my mind. To me, it was just another sign that the town was going to the dogs. Anyway, I walked home without further incident. Which was good. I was just settling into my easy chair when it started again.

“Walter, put that book down for a minute.”

“Do I have to?”

“Don’t look at me like that.” Selena was just as frustrated as I was. I could hear it in her voice. “I just need a few simple things.”

“Alright.”I pulled my well-worn order book from the pocket of my suit and prepared my pen for the task of writing. “What is it you need?”

“Two bags of flour.”

“Two bags of flour. Got it.”

“Three bags of sugar.”

“Three bags of sugar.”

“Four bottles of cod liver oil.”

“Four bottles of cod liver oil.”

“Five bars of soap.”

“And a partridge in a pear tree,” I interjected in an attempt at humor as I made my way to the door of our humble home.

“Now don’t run off, I’m not done with you yet.”

I turned back to face my wife. “Alright. What else do you want?”

“Six dozen eggs.”

“Six dozen eggs.”

“Seven peppermints.”

“Seven peppermints.”

“8 Lords a leaping…”

“8 Lords a leaping…”

Selena laughed. “I was joking about the Lords a leaping…that’s everything.”

I let out a sigh of relief as I returned my order book to its rightful home in my suit-jacket pocket. “Alright, as soon as I’m done reading I’ll run down to the store.”

“Why would you run over there when you could drive?” Selena was teasing me. Attempting to cheer me up in her wonderful way…but I wasn’t in the mood for it.

“Listen, after a day like I had today I think I’ve earned some time off.”

Selena flashed me a smile. “I know, that’s why I appreciate you taking the time to get those things for me.”

I don’t know why…but I walked away from the warmth she was offering. Perhaps I was frustrated after all those months of adjusting to life as a storekeeper. Perhaps I was a fool…

Whatever it was, I was enraged as I began cranking the crank in front of our model t car. It didn’t start. I would have to walk. What else could go wrong? That was the question repeating in my mind as I tramped along the dirt trail leading to the town center. I was so focused on my problems that I didn’t notice a branch sticking out of the mud until I was splashing down, face first in a puddle.

“Good afternoon Mister!” Bobby Stauffer was standing over me. His brother Edward was at his side. They were the picture of mischief.

“Humbug,” I muttered as I stood. Really, what else could I say?

“Can you spare a quarter, sir?”

“I told you before. My money is mine, not yours, now get out of my way!” And so, dripping with water and bitterness I pushed my way past Bobby and carried on through the front door of the General Store.

They were sweet kids and to be honest, I felt guilty talking to them like that. Still, I had things to do. I didn’t have time to waste on them. Let’s see, Selena wanted two bags of flour. Where were they? Oh, there they were.

“No. Not Dumpsters, Dempsters. Check the spelling on the brand name, it’s important.”

“What?”

“And when I said three bags of sugar, I wanted them from the Bakery.”

“If you wanted to do this shopping yourself, why am I here?”

“Because you’re obedient to your wife.”

“Bah. How’d you get here so fast anyway, the car didn’t start for me.”

“I forgot to tell you, I disconnected the battery.”

“You disconnected the battery…why on Earth would you do that?”

“We’ve gotta save energy you know. Now, stop arguing. We need to get this shopping done. My mother is coming over for supper.”

My mother-in-law was coming over for supper. My day had officially hit rock bottom. Selena went to pay for our food and I stomped outside, grumbling every step of the way.

My mother-in-law had just immigrated to Canada from France. I understood why Selena would be excited about the fact. However, our first meeting hadn’t gone well…and our second meeting had built on the failures of the first.

“Good afternoon!”

Edward and Bobby Stauffer were standing in front of me again.

“Spare a quarter, mister?”

I stopped in my tracks and stared at them for a moment. Why they were doing this, I had no idea. Their father, Bernard, certainly wasn’t short of money. Perhaps this was some sort of game to them. That’s the only answer I could think of.

“Please…pretty please…” Bobby’s innocent face reminded me of a man I had been once. The man that had swept Selena off her feet with promises of a better future.

“I want to buy my father a lollipop.”

Once I too had been joyful and carefree. Excited about the freedom I would find after leaving the family business. What had I become? I had left the stern world of the bank but it seemed that it hadn’t left me. At that moment, I knew what I had to do.

“Sure, here’s a quarter, in fact, I’ll make it two. One for each of you. You can buy two lollipops.”

“Wow!”

“Thanks, mister!”

“Say hello to your Father from me,” I said as I watched the two boys scamper into the store, ready to spend their unearned money.

I took a deep breath, inhaling the beautiful scent of spring.

You know, giving those quarters to those children didn’t change my circumstances. My mother-in-law would still come over that night…and she still wouldn’t approve of me. Some people are that way. But, maybe making an effort to give had changed something inside of me. Even if I didn’t feel joyful myself…I realized that I could help bring joy to other people. Maybe when you make an effort to light up someone else’s world, your own gets a little brighter too.

All around me I saw the signs of new life. The tender shoots of green sticking up through the mud. The birds in the trees. It was a sign of change…and change isn’t always a bad thing.

Selena was making her way from the store. A clerk was following her, pulling a hand cart with all our goods. I went over to join them at the side of our model t.

“I’m glad I married you,” I said.

“I beg your pardon!” Exclaimed the clerk.

“I’m sorry, I was speaking to my wife,” I muttered, flustered at this mistake.

Selena winked at me. “I’m glad I married you too.” And with those simple words, all the aggravation and frustration of the day seemed to fade from memory.