Love, joy, and the warm feeling of pulling together to get through tough times don’t cost a thing. But gifts do cost money. So, what’s a poor family to do?

When Christmas season rolled around, I told my mother that the only thing I wanted was a pogo stick. However, my mother told me they were too expensive and that we simply couldn’t afford one.

On a Saturday afternoon a couple of weeks before Christmas, my mom and dad told me we needed to go to Sears to pay our credit card bill. While my mother and I were paying the bill, my dad said, “I’ll be right back — I need to see something in the tool department.” A little later, my dad came back with a long box. I remember wondering at that moment if there was a pogo stick in that box.

When we got home, my dad put the box in the garage. While my parents were busy with their chores, I quietly walked out to the garage and found the box. I hoped a pogo stick would be inside — but when I opened it, there was just an old broom. And so it looked like Christmas morning would be disappointing.

But after all the wrapping paper was cleaned up, my dad said he needed to tend to something in the garage. When he came back in, he was carrying a beautiful pogo stick. I couldn’t believe it!

My parents probably got quite a laugh from the trick they played on me.

Although we didn’t have much money, my parents gave me the most important gift of all: lots of love. My dad worked hard to support our family and my mother knew how to stretch a dollar. That was over 60 years ago and I still think about those wonderful Christmas memories every year during the holiday season. My parents were the best and I will never forget all the joy they brought into my life.