Tom saw that his friend Mia didn’t have anything for lunch, so he gave her some of his, even though he didn’t have much. The next day, she came to Tim and his grandmother’s house in a black SUV with a big surprise.
“Hey, don’t you want to go to recess?” Tom asked Mia, his classmate, who always sat next to him. When the teacher said it was time for recess, Mia did not get up like the rest of the class. All of the kids stood up, grabbed their lunch boxes, and left the room. But Tom saw that his friend didn’t come with him.
The girl said, “No,” and pursed her lips. “I have nothing to eat,” she said.
“What?” Tom was surprised. He looked at his friend with kindness as she solemnly nodded her head. “Why? You always pack lunch in your red lunchbox!”
“What’s making that sound?” Rosalind got her coat and opened the door as she wondered. “What is it?”
Mia nodded her head slowly. “Sure, but not right now.”
He asked again, “Why?”
“MY MOTHER IS IN THE HOSPITAL, SO I DON’T HAVE ANY FOOD TODAY,” MIA TOLD TOM as she shrugged her shoulders and looked at him.
Tom thought about Mia and how bad it was that her mother was in the hospital. One day, his parents went to the hospital and never came back. Rosalind, Tom’s grandmother, said that they were in Heaven.
He also knew how it felt to go without food. Even though his grandmother tried hard, they didn’t have any other relatives. She always talked about how prices were going up when she was on the phone. Tom wasn’t sure if he really knew what that meant. But he often ate leftovers, and sometimes his grandma didn’t even eat at night.
Because he felt bad for his friend, he looked in his lunchbox. There was an apple, juice, and a bologna sandwich. “You can give me something. He said with a smile, “I don’t know if you like this sandwich, but my juice and apple are really good.”
“Really?” The girl sat down and then stood up.
“Yeah! Let’s go!” he said, and they both skipped toward the patio of their kindergarten. Tom cut his sandwich in half, and they took turns eating the apple and drinking from his juice box.
Mia often smiled and laughed. They played with the other kids after they ate until it was time to go back to class.
Mia said goodbye to Tom at the end of the day and thanked him for sharing his lunch. She called out, “If I get a lunchbox tomorrow, I’ll share with you!”
Tom waved as he got on his school bus and hoped Mia’s mother would get better soon and come home so Mia wouldn’t have to go hungry again.
The next day was a beautiful Saturday, and Tom’s grandmother had promised that they could play in the park near their home in Missouri. But as they were getting ready to leave, they heard a car’s loud horn.
“What’s making that sound?” Rosalind got her coat and opened the door as she wondered. “What is it?”
When Tom’s grandmother called out, he ran to the door to see what was going on. A big black SUV was parked in front of their house, but they didn’t know why or who it could be. “I think our next-door neighbor has a guest.”
Rosalind said, “That must be it,” and went outside to see if anyone needed help. But as they were getting out of the car, Tom saw Mia get out of the backseat and run toward them.
“TOM! TOM!” she applauded. “SURPRISE!”
“What?” Tom asked, puzzled but with a smile.
“Who are you?” Rosalind asked, smiling as well. Tom put her in touch with Mia.
A man who was dressed casually but looked rich walked up to them. “Howdy, folks! I’m Mia’s dad, Roger. I heard that Tom ate Mia’s lunch yesterday,” he said, putting out his hand to Rosalind and then looking at Tom. “Thank you so much, my man. My daughter would have been hungry all day if it weren’t for you.”
The kids then got bored and started running around the front yard. Roger walked toward Rosalind.
“Mia stayed with me yesterday for the first time in a while. We got a divorce a while ago, and since then I’ve been traveling. I feel bad that I forgot to make her lunch, but I did. I gave her some money because I thought her school might have a cafeteria. But it doesn’t seem to work. I had no idea. “I’m a fool,” Roger said. Rosalind laughed and put her hand on his shoulder.
“Oh, gosh! Now you know, and it’s good that Tom was there to share his lunch with you. Is Mia’s mother okay?” Rosalind wondered.
“Yeah. She is okay. We decided that Mia should stay with me until she gets better, which will take a few weeks. It’s fresh. Since the divorce, we haven’t done that, and I’m just now realizing how little I know about kids and how to raise them. It’s embarrassing,” Roger said, rubbing the back of his head. “But that’s not why we’re here, anyway. I got your address from a teacher, and we have a big surprise for you!”
Mia pulled Tom toward the adults when she heard her father talk about a surprise. Roger got down on his knees to face the kids. “Tom, how do you feel about going to… SILVER DOLLAR CITY?”
“YAY!” Tom was happy. “Grandma, can we go? Can we? PLEASE?”
“Uh…” Rosalind was unsure. They didn’t have enough money for that, but Roger said that the whole trip was on him, so she smiled and nodded at her grandson.
Again, both kids cheered. “Let’s go!” Mia yelled, “Oh my gosh!” and ran toward the car.
Rosalind still looked a little scared, so Roger leaned in and whispered, “This is the least I could do. Your grandson is a good kid who didn’t think twice about giving away his lunch. Think of this as a gift. Please.”
As they walked to the car after a great day at the amusement park, Rosalind smiled at the young father.
What does this story teach us?
Teach your children to share with those who don’t have as much. Even though things were hard at home and there wasn’t much food, Tom didn’t think twice about giving his lunch to a friend.
Good things always come back to you in some way. After Tom did something nice for Mia, her father decided to thank him by taking him to an amusement park for the day. In general, good things come back to those who do them.