A couple of years ago, around Christmas time my wife and I were listening to the John Tesh radio show. With its mix of music and relevant talk, the show’s savvy slogan is “music and intelligence for your life.” On this particular day a great narrator brought a brilliant story to life that even the toughest of the tough would have trouble holding back tears. It went like this:
“Once upon a Christmas season when the snow floated gently to the earth in search of tranquility a man and his ten year old son walked slowly down quiet streets. They marveled at the decorated houses ablaze in Christmas color, lost in the stills of wonder in awe of the silent celebration that coaxed the heart of man to reach out in love.
Hand in hand they walked, each lost in their own thoughts yet as close to each other as the dreams that called them. Suddenly the father looked at his son and said, “If you could be anyone in the world, either past or present, anyone at all, who would you be?”
The boy was contemplative as they walked the snowy street. For a moment the father had thought his son hadn’t heard him. But then the boy looked up at him and smiled and said, “Me. I’d like to be me.”
The father laughed, gave his sons hand a squeeze then said, “No, you don’t understand what I mean. I mean, just suppose you could be anyone; a great sport hero; or a great actor or an inventor, or scientist or writer, even the President of the United States – who would you choose to be?”
The boy grinned up at his dad. “Me.”, he said again.
“I’d choose to be me.”
The father stopped. Looked down at his son in awe and asked him, “But why? With all the people to choose from in history and now, why wouldn’t you want to be one of them; with fame and wealth; someone everyone looked up to?”
The boy shrugged and said with a happy grin, “Oh that’s ok I guess, but I like being me. I like you being my dad and my mom being my mom. I’ve got Gramma and Grandpa. We live in a nice house and I’ve got lots of friends to play with. I like school, my teachers and the church we go to. I don’t think I could be anybody better than me.”
Father and son continued to walk down the festive street with the snow gently falling on them. They were silent as the melody of a distant carol reached out to touch them. “Who would you be dad?” the young boy suddenly said. “Who would you be if you could be anybody you wanted to be?”
The father didn’t answer immediately. He was too busy fighting back tears. But finally he said with a bit of a sob. “You son, I’d like to be you.””
Merry Christmas & Happy New Year.
(Photo: JonathanCohen)
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