The story is told of a young man named Bob who received a
new car from his brother as a Christmas present. On Christmas Eve, when he came
out of his office to drive it home, he noticed a street kid admiring the shiny
car. “This yours, mister?” “Sure is. My brother gave it to me for Christmas.”
The boy was astonished. “You mean he just gave it to you, and it didn’t cost
you anything? Wow! Boy, I wish….” His voice trailed off. Bob finished the
sentence in his mind. But what followed shook him. “I wish,” the boy said,
“that I could be a brother like that.”
The young man was so astonished that he said impulsively,
“Would you like a ride?” “Oh, yeh. That’d be great.” So off they went, the
boy’s eyes sparkling with excitement. After a while he said, “Mister, would you
mind stopping in front of my house?” “Ah, he wants to show off a little,” Bob
thought. “Will you stop where those two steps are?” Almost before the car had
stopped, the boy was on his way into the house. A few moments later, he came
back, and Bob saw to his amazement that he was carrying his little crippled
brother. “There it is, John, just like I told you upstairs. His brother gave it
to him, and it didn’t cost him a cent. And someday I’m going to get you one
just like it, so we can go see all the things I keep telling you about.”
Tears were flowing freely from Bob’s eyes as he took that
little boy and lifted him into his car to share a ride. For years after, he
said the greatest gift he received that Christmas wasn’t the car but the
attitude of that young boy saying, “Boy, I wish I could be a brother like
that!”
