A Shiny Gold Coin

One summer, when I was little, my dad built me a lemonade stand. On sunny days I'd set up outside the local car wash with a cooler and my little black safe. I didn't get many customers but I always had fun, whether I was reading a book or adding puff paint decorations to the safe and signs. One customer I did have was an elderly gentlemen who lived across the street from the car wash. He would come every day that I set up and buy a glass of lemonade for his wife. Even though I only charged 25 cents, he always paid me with a $1 Sacagawea coin. I built up quite a collection by the end of the summer! Now, as a college student, I make a point of stopping at as many lemonade stands as I can, always paying more than the kids charge me. This has been going on for almost three years now but this week, I didn't have any money with me when I stopped at a little girls stand. I dug around in my car frantically and eventually opened up one of my moving boxes revealing a black safe covered in puff painted rainbows and hearts. I opened it up and sure enough, there were my Sacagawea coins. I almost shut the lid again because they mean so much to me, but then I realized that that is exactly why I had to pay with the coin. When I gave that little girl the shiny gold coin, I said "You hang on to this one, they don't make them anymore!" And her face lit up. As I drove away, I saw her running to her sister to show her the coin and I knew that I had made her just as happy as I was when I was a little girl.

Submitted by Anonymous

Giving Back