Gifts That Money Can't Buy

T's teacher (who was C's teacher for 4th grade, too) gives the kids a writing assignment this time of year. The assignment is to write about gifts that money can't buy. I remember C's... I might even have it saved somewhere electronically. T. wrote his last night. I love the rambling tangents, but especially the sentiment:

Gifts that Money Can’t Buy

By T

You don’t need money to be wealthy in heart. Money might buy you fun toys, but friends are free and keep you happy longer, not to mention a lot more fun. So, if friends don’t cost money and are more fun, why not make friends instead? Also, love and nature are free. The best things are free and don’t come in boxes, for that matter. Heck, other than food and water and shelter, you hardly need to buy anything, whether it gets you teased for being Amish or not. So what if you see a commercial for a remote control hovercraft, you still don’t need it. A common way people waste money is museum souvenirs. People buy lots of things because it’s a certain brand. The worst waste of money is electricity. People think that if they leave lights and electrical appliances on while they’re away that it will ward off burglars. Unfortunately, overnight it doesn’t go off. And thieves usually figure out they used that type of remedy once the T. V. runs for two days straight. It also costs a lot of money to do that, so it’s pretty pointless. Money only gets you temporary fun, and I mean things like toys and television. It’s lots of fun to have play dates, another reason to have friends.