It was at least two months before Christmas when nine-year-old Rose told her father and me that she wanted a new bicycle.
As Christmas drew nearer, her desire for a bicycle seemed to fade—or so we thought, as she didn't mention it again. We bought the latest fashionable Baby Sitter's Club dolls, a holiday dress and some beautiful story books. Then, much to our surprise, on December 23rd, she proudly announced that she "really wanted a bike more than anything else."
It was just too late, what with all the details of preparing Christmas dinner and buying last-minute gifts. We could only think of the bicycle and the disappointment of our child. "What if I make a little bicycle out of clay and write a note that she could trade the clay model in for a real bike?" Her dad asked. The theory, of course, being that since that is a high-ticket item and she is "such a big girl", it would be much better for her to pick it out. So he spent the next five hours painstakingly working with clay to make a tiny bike.
Three hours later, on Christmas morning, we were excited for Rose to open the little heart-shaped package with the beautiful red and white clay bike and the note. Finally, she opened it and read the note aloud.
She looked at me and then at her dad and said, "so does this mean that I trade in this bike that Daddy made me for a real one?"
Beaming, I said, "Yes."
Rose had tears in her eyes when she replied, "I could never trade in this beautiful bicycle that Daddy made me. I'd rather keep this than get a real bike."
At that moment, we would have moved heaven and earth to buy her every bicycle on the planet!
