The Gift

"When we were stationed at the Naval Air Station in Millington, TN, we lived in a subdivision near the base back in the late 70's. While out walking in the neighborhood one day, we noticed a discarded Radio Flyer with old and broken wooden rails ready to be picked up on garbage day lying by the side of the street. My ex-husband being the handyman that he was looked at the wagon parts and said he could easily transform the wagon to look like new again. With permission from the owners, we gathered the wagon parts and headed home. Our thought was that the wagon would be great for my parents, who always had a huge garden each summer, to use in gathering the vegetables. Little did we know at the time what an impact the "little red wagon gift" would have on my mother. The wagon was repaired, painted, polished and shined to look like new and carried to Mississippi for the presentation. When we unloaded the wagon my mother almost wept saying "I always wanted to buy one for ya'll, but we could never afford one." Needless to say,that little wagon never made it to the garden. At Christmas, she always loaded the wagon with Christmas wrapped boxes and put it on the front porch with her other decorations. After she passed away, we gave the wagon to our daughter in Pennsylvania to use through the years with her four children. To this day, she still has the wagon and to quote her, "I will never get rid of the "Little Red Wagon." "