The “Stories” Are Rolling In

We have been overwhelmed with stories of Giving to Get in connection with the Share Your Story tab.  A&N Publishing has agreed to publish a follow on book to Elijah’s Coin that will include stories about giving to get.  Some of the submissions have been on behalf of non-profit organizations that started as a simple vision to lend a helping hand.  Others have come from individuals who have experienced the gift of giving.  Some have been written from the first person point of view, some in third person.  Some have been from the viewpoint of the giver.  Some have been from the recipient’s point of view.  We don’t care.  We just want your story.

Below are two examples of Give to Get stories.  Yours can be longer or shorter or narrated any way you’d like, we just wanted to show you some examples of the stories we are considering. 

Keep giving.  Keep writing.  Keep sending us your stories.

One fall afternoon I was driving home with two tickets to that evening’s local, sold out college football game.  It was the last game of the season.  As passed by an orphanage, I decided out of nowhere that I was going to give the tickets away.  It was about ninety minutes to kickoff, but I thought, “what the heck,” maybe they can use them.  I pulled into the driveway and walked to the door.  A kind elderly lady opened the door and I informed her that I had two tickets for that night’s game if they could use them.  She turned and shouted “Johnnie.”  A bright faces boy of about 12 or 13 came running to the entryway.  The woman said, “Johnnie, this man has two tickets to the game tonight.  I guess you get to go after all.”  Johnnie suddenly started dancing around and shouting.  He was out of his mind with joy.  The woman turned to me and said “we can only take the kids if we have tickets for an adult on staff to sit with them.  All of the boys here have gotten to go to a football game this season; all except for Johnnie.  Now he’ll get to go.  You made it just in time.”

Seeing the excitement on that boy’s face and knowing that he wasn’t going to be the only child who didn’t get to attend a football game that year was all I needed to get.  If somewhere along the way, I got something more, well, that would just be a bonus.

Sandy was driving to work one day and decided that she was going to take all the money in her purse and give it to a complete stranger, to someone who could use the money.  When she arrived at work she pulled her wallet out of her purse and counted.  She had $118.  Well, she thought, someone is going to get $118 and I hope it can help them in some way.  An hour later she received a call from the human resources department.  Sandy had been laid off due to the downturn in the economy.  She struggled with the emotional strain and shock of being suddenly unemployed and reconsidered her idea to give the money away.  She could use it for her family and probably would need the extra money as she started her job search.  Then she thought, “no, I decided to give it away.   It is not mine anymore, I made the decision.”  On her way home she saw an elderly man by the roadside.  He looked as though he lived on the streets and was in need of food, clothing and anything else that a stranger wanted to give him.  Sandy pulled her car alongside the man and rolled down her window.  She reached across and handed the man an envelope with the $118 inside.  The man had no idea what was in the envelope, but he said “God bless you.”  Sandy smiled and drove off.  She was still burdened with the sudden job loss, but giving the money to the man somehow made her feel alive and connected to the world.  When she got home she pulled the mail out of her mailbox.  Inside was an envelope from her mortgage company.  Oh, great, she thought.  She took the mail inside and opened the envelope.  The mortgage company had overcharged her for escrow on her property taxes and they were refunding the overage.  There was a check for $118.

Now, had she chosen not to give the money to the stranger, she would have had an extra $118, so some might argue that giving the money away was wrong.   Sandy knows better.