The Power of Gifts

Oftentimes, during the holidays, people forget that gifts don’t necessarily have to be wrapped in festive packaging and that they’re not all found on store shelves with plastic tags attached to them. In fact, sometimes the most powerful gift is one that isn’t even tangible – like a smile or a conversation.

Truth be told, even I once overlooked these small gestures. For me, life moved too quickly for anyone to take time out of their day to appreciate these small gestures. I didn’t have time to be idle because if I stalled too long, life might move along without me.

However, that all changed a few years ago on Halloween. I was trick-or-treating with my family when I was in grade eight. We had been out for a couple of hours and my sister and I were racing down the block to visit as many houses as possible before our parents dragged us to the car. 

My breath came out in white puffs as we sprinted towards the last house. The October full moon was already at its zenith, bathing the house in pure moonlight. A roughly carved jack-‘o-lantern sat on the front porch, pulsing with an eerie shade of orange. Catching my breath, I stepped up on the porch and rang the doorbell. The door swung open to reveal a little girl dressed as Elsa and an eighteenth-century Count Dracula. With a big smile on my face, I held out my pillowcase. “Trick or treat!” The girl plopped a handful of Hershey Kisses into my bag and smiled back at me.

“Good girl,” said her father, ruffling her hair.

“Has she trick-or-treated yet?” I asked.

“She already has a whole bag of candy, it’s her first year” the man chuckled. 

“Must have been exciting” I replied with a smile. I smiled idly to myself, recalling the first time I went trick-or-treating. I had been in first grade, decked out in a worn but comfortable pumpkin costume.

The girl turned to face her father. “Can we go give some to mummy?” she asked.

I saw him hesitate, which puzzled me. It was late out, and on such a special night, would both parents not be home? 

He shifted on his feet. “Tomorrow. Mummy needs rest.” He stroked his daughter’s hair, trying to distract her.

But it wouldn’t work. “It’s not fair,” she insisted, “and Mummy said we could visit after surgery.”

I froze. The celebratory mood instantly sobered up as I digested the meaning of the words settling into my brain.

It was too late to play ignorant.

I felt so intrusive as if I had stumbled across something that I was not meant to see. I was no stranger to hospitals and I knew that even when adults tried to shelter their children from reality, they would realize someday. Death is and was not then a new concept to me. Images of hospital beds, IV drips, and waiting rooms filled with toys and pamphlets flooded my mind.

Pity filled my heart for her and at the same time, a feeling of helplessness ravaged me. What could I do to help?

“You can take something from my bag for your mother” I blurted, suddenly.

The little girl’s eyes widened, and she eagerly rummaged through, finally pulling out a Snickers bar. “Mummy loves Snickers” she said, happily. The man smiled at me and through his expression, I felt his gratitude.

“Happy Halloween,” I said, smiling as they shut the door.

It was that auspicious night on the 31st that I learned to take the time and effort to make someone’s day special–a smile, an effortless conversation. I would have never guessed that the little girl shouldered something so heavy and I will never know that about everyone. But taking the time to cheer someone up heals more than we see. I would have never guessed that the night I asked for sweets, a little girl would teach me something so much more valuable. She is my reminder that taking the time to cheer someone helps more than what we can see. I left her home with a newfound understanding of people and how not everything that meets the eye is all that there is. Now, I take the extra few seconds to remember the birthdays of my friends and their siblings, the favourite books and movies of my teachers, and even the names of freshmen at school. That little girl is my reminder that taking time to cheer someone helps more than we can see and if there’s anything that you take away from my story, it’s just that.