|
Beto, nine-year
old boy, very
poor, one day
received a
beautiful and
tasty piece of
cake.
With bright
eyes, he grabbed
the cake with
his hands, it
smelled good,
and opened his
mouth ready to
devour it.
At this very
moment, though,
he stopped,
remembered his
younger brother,
Renato, 7, who
liked cake very
much and had not
eaten it for
quite a while
now.
With a sigh, he
wrapped the
piece of cake up
and said: |
 |
— Yeah! I’ll
give it as gift
to Renato. My
little brother
is going to love
it!
Later, Beto gave
the small
package to his
brother who,
opened it up,
and couldn’t be
happier:
 |
— Great! I like
cakes very much.
Thanks,
Beto.
But as he was
going to bite
the piece of
cake, Renato
remembered his
sister Rosa,
whose he liked a lot, and
|
|
said: |
|
— Ah!
Beto, if you
don’t mind, I’d
like to give it
as a gift to
Rosa, my sister.
She has been so
good to me; she
takes me to
school, helps me
with the
homework and
invites me out.
Beto agreed and
both took the
gift to their
sister.
As she opened up
the package,
Rosa felt her
mouth watering.
When she was
about to eat it,
though, she
remembered her
older brother,
Geraldo, and
said:
— Since dad
disincarnated,
our situation
has been so hard
and Geraldo has
worked a lot to
provide for us.
I think he
deserves this
piece of cake
for everything
he has done so
far.
All of them
agreed and, as
it was time for
Geraldo arrives
from work, they
kept waiting for
him at the gate,
anxiously.
When they saw
him, the three
of them came up
to him. Rosa
gave him the
package.
Geraldo opened
it up and
smiled, happy.
He was tired and
hungry. He had
worked the whole
day and had
barely eaten, so
this piece of
cake came in
handy.
He remembered,
though, his
mother, who was
always tired of
working so hard
and loved them
anyway. He
looked at his
siblings and
said:
— Fellow
brothers and
sisters. I
appreciate the
gift you just
gave me, but I
believe that Mom
deserves this
cake more than I
do. She has
always provided
for all of us
and it’s fair to
give her this
gift.
His brothers
couldn’t agree
more.
They came in and
went towards the
kitchen, where
their mom
prepared the
frugal afternoon
meal. Geraldo,
surrounded by
his brothers,
explained what
was happening
and gave his mom
the cake.
With her eyes
watering, Mom
looked at them
and said, moved:
— Beto, Renato,
Rosa and
Geraldo.
I’m so happy
with you all.
You’ve shown
today we are a
family; we love
each other so
much and care
for each other,
even forgetting
about
yourselves.
You’ve learned
the lesson in
which Jesus says
“Love your
neighbor as
yourself: do
unto others as
you would have
them do unto
you”. I’m
very happy and
Dad, wherever he
is now, I’m sure
he must be
pretty well
satisfied.
The kids were
emotional, and
Mom smiled at
them, saying:
— And now, let’s
have dinner.
Later, we’ll
slice this
beautiful cake
up so everyone
can have a
bite.
Aunt Célia
|
