The boy ordered a plain dish of ice cream at a coffee shop instead of an ice cream sundae so that he would have enough money left to leave a tip for the waitress. When the waitress came back after the boy had finished and paid, she began to cry upon finding two nickels and five pennies left as a tip beside the empty dish. The boy demonstrated caring for others despite his limited means.

1. Story To
Reflect Upon
97
The Boy and his Ice Cream
In the days, when an ice cream sundae cost much less, a 10 - year
old boy entered a hotel coffee shop and sat at a table. A waitress
put a glass of water in front of him.
"How much is an ice cream sundae?" he asked.
"Fifty cents," replied the waitress.
The little boy pulled his hand out of his pocket and studied the
coins in it.
"Well, how much is a plain dish of ice cream?" he inquired. By
now more people were waiting for a table and the waitress was
growing impatient.
"Thirty-five cents," she brusquely replied.
The little boy again counted his coins.
"I'll have the plain ice cream," he said.
The waitress brought the ice cream, put the bill on the table and
walked away.
The boy finished the ice cream, paid the cashier and left.
When the waitress came back, she began to cry as she wiped
down the table.
There, placed neatly beside the empty dish, were two nickels and
five pennies.
You see he couldn't have the sundae, because he wanted enough
left to leave her a tip.
Reflection
* To care or have a though for others who serve you is
indeed a high spiritual quality.
* In a highly materialistic society today, too many people
have little thought about others…they care only for their
own self-interest.

2. Story To
Reflect
Upon 98
For Daddy
Some time ago, a man punished his 5-year-old daughter for
wasting a roll of expensive gold wrapping paper. Money was
tight and he became even more upset when the child pasted the
gold paper so as to decorate a box to put under the Christmas
tree. Nevertheless, the little girl brought the gift box to her father
the next morning and said, "This is for you, Daddy." The father
was embarrassed by his earlier overreaction, but his anger flared
again when he found the box was empty. He spoke to her in a
harsh manner, "Don't you know, young lady, when you give
someone a present there's supposed to be something inside the
package?"
The little girl looked up at him with tears in her eyes and said,
"Oh, Daddy, it's not empty - I blew kisses into it until it was
full."
The father was crushed. He fell to his knees and put his arms
around his little girl, and he begged her to forgive him for his
unnecessary anger.
An accident took the life of this child only a short time later and
it is told that the father kept that gold box by his bed for all the
years of his life. And whenever he was discouraged or faced
difficult problems he would open the box and take out an
imaginary kiss and remember the love of the child who had put it
there.
In a very real sense, each of us as human beings have been given
a golden box filled with unconditional love and kisses from our
children, family, friends and God. There is no more precious
possession anyone could hold.
Reflection
How much of our love is unconditional? So much of
‘love’ is based on attachment and selfishness.