give it away now

yesterday was wil's 15th birthday. with it also falling 2 days before new year's, i think it is fitting to share a sweet post about him. a lesson he learned on his birthday could be a great resolution as well.

wil is one of the most loyal friends i know. he has had a handful of friends since he was little that he still calls his "best friends" even though they have grown up and apart in lots of ways. he still maintains his faithfulness to them. one friend in particular, came to visit him yesterday on his birthday. this friend came to the lower school in 2nd grade and wil befriended him instantly. and they have remained such ever since. this friend moved away at the end of the school year last year and wil was really bummed about it. this had been his saxophone buddy and partner in crime in so many things over the years. they have stayed in touch and he was excited to have him back in town for a visit.

they hung around our house for awhile and played xbox while we took down the christmas decorations. i wish i could give an accurate visual of the two of them. this boy is probably 6 feet tall and wil is not. he also has the booming voice and mannerisms to go along with his stature. he is a sweet kid. it was fun to have him in our home again and hear their conversations...and that was not a problem. after a while of hanging out, they decided to walk downtown and go to schroeder's. his friend had missed this local food a lot. wil told me they were going and that he had money so not to worry about them. wil never has money. he spends it as fast as he gets it. i knew that what he did have from christmas, he wanted to save to buy a new amp for his guitar. but i didn't argue...i was obsessing over christmas tree needles and untangling lights.

so they went, came back, hung out some more and then we took him back to his grandparents' house. after we dropped him off, wil was pretty quiet. i knew he missed his friend and it had made his birthday to get to see him. we were on the way to have birthday dinner and he finally spoke up. he told us that he "had learned a lesson today." he said that when they got to schroeder's his friend did not have any money so wil wanted to buy his lunch. he said, "now i know why you don't let me order the biggest order of wings on the menu. it is expensive." he said that he kept adding up what they wanted to order in his head and calculating whether or not he had enough money. he said he suggested the smaller order of wings to his friend. wil told him he was not hungry and that he could have them all. i asked him if he had enough for their lunch and he said yes. "it took all i had so i understand why going out to eat is expensive now."

i felt my heart melt a little for him. i knew he was saving that money but i knew that he had done the right thing. he wanted to do something nice for his friend while he was visiting. he wanted to buy his lunch.

later, after dinner, he opened his gifts and was given enough money for his birthday to buy the amp and have some left over. we pointed out to him that it was really cool that he had given and now it had been given back to him. it reminded me of what i had tried to tell em at chrismas. you can't give recklessly or irresponsibly. but you also want to be generous and not afraid to let go of things and give to people.

this was a good lesson. and it's a good thing to ponder for the new year.