The Perfect Present

                                 

The Perfect Present

    Lindy woke to the smell of cinnamon buns filling her nostrils. Grandma is making cinnamon buns, she thought. Lindy loved Grandma’s homemade cinnamon buns; they were her absolute favorite.

    Then suddenly Lindy remembered, “It’s Grandma’s birthday!” Leaping from her pink princess daybed, she searched for her slippers. “I want to find the perfect present for Grandma, but I don’t know what she likes. Maybe I could search Grandma’s bedroom for clues to find out what will be a good gift.”

      As Lindy made her way to Grandma’s bed room she couldn’t help being distracted by the scent of the cinnamon buns coming from the kitchen. “I think I’ll have something to eat first,” she said to herself as see bounded down the stairs.

    As she entered the kitchen, she could hear Grandma singing a soft tune; a song that they often sang in church. “Mornin’ Grandma!”

    “Well, good morning Lindy,” Grandma replied. “You’re the first one down this morning; your parents are still asleep.” Then lowering her voice to a whisper, Grandma said, “The cinnamon buns aren’t quite cool yet, but how about I give you one anyway; it’ll be our little secret.” Grandma gave a wink.

      Lindy liked the idea of having first dibs; Grandma was a great baker.

    Lindy sat at the kitchen table in her special chair. Lindy’s chair had a booster seat decorated with bright pink and purple stickers. Although Lindy was a big girl (she was almost six years old) she still needed a little help sitting at the table. Grandma placed a hot glazed cinnamon bun and a glass of juice in front of her. Lindy gobbled down the cinnamon bun and cupping her tiny hands around the glass of juice, she gulped it down too.

    “Thanks, Grandma!” she said as she got up from the table.
   
    “You’re welcome, sweetie,” Grandma said bending down to give Lindy a hug. Lindy remembered her task. It was Grandma’s birthday and she needed to find the perfect present.

    Maybe I could just bake something, she thought. That won’t work. I’ll need help and I don’t want to spoil the surprise. Excited, Lindy scurried to Grandma’s room.

    As Lindy searched Grandma’s bedroom for gift ideas, she noticed the chenille throw at the foot of the bed, a bottle of perfume on the vanity, and a cashmere cardigan on the back of the recliner. Grandma likes fancy stuff, Lindy thought, “I’ll never be able to buy anything like this.” Lindy had only saved three dollars and fifty cents.

      Lindy continued to look around. She went over to the nightstand where Grandma kept her Bible. Inside of the Bible was a picture of Grandpa. Lindy didn’t remember Grandpa because he had died when Lindy was just a baby and that’s when Grandma came to live with her them.

    Grandma would show Lindy Grandpa’s picture often and she would tell her stories about him. Lindy knew that if Grandpa were alive they would be good friends. Then Lindy noticed something about Grandpa’s picture that she hadn’t noticed before. Grandpa’s picture wasn’t in a picture frame! Lindy had a great idea.

    Lindy took the picture of Grandpa and hurried to her bedroom. Searching though her arts and crafts box she exclaimed, “What can I use to make a picture frame? I want it to be perfect for Grandma’s birthday!”

    Lindy found Popsicle sticks, construction paper and craft glue in her craft box. “I’ll use these,” she said, “It will make a sturdy frame.” Lindy cut a sheet of construction paper so that it was a little larger than the picture and glued the picture to it. She then glued together four Popsicle sticks in the shape of a square and glued it to the back of the picture and she did the same thing for the front.

    Lindy looked at the picture of Grandpa in its new frame.
Something’s missing, she thought, it’s not perfect. I know what I’ll do. I’ll use some of my water colors to paint the frame and use some stickers around the border. Just then Lindy heard a voice.

    “Lindy, Lindy.” Grandma came into Lindy’s room. Lindy quickly hid the picture behind her back. “Lindy, why aren’t you dressed?” Lindy was still in her pink pajamas. “What are you hiding behind your back?” Lindy didn’t want to spoil the surprise and although the present wasn’t yet perfect she didn’t want to lie to Grandma.

    “I wanted to give you something special for your birthday.” she said as she thrust the picture up toward Grandma. Teary-eyed Lindy whimpered, “It’s not dry yet. I’m sorry that it’s so plain, I didn’t have time to finish decorating it.” I know how much you loved Grandpa and I wanted to make it perfect for your birthday.” Lindy said with a sniffle.

    Smiling, Grandma carefully took the framed photo from Lindy. Kneeling down she wiped Lindy’s tears, and hugging her grand-daughter tightly said, ”This is the best present anyone has ever given me. You don’t need to change anything because it’s perfect; it’s the perfect present.” Lindy smiled. She had given Grandma the perfect present and Grandma was happy.

    “How about another cinnamon bun?” Grandma smiled down at Lindy. Lindy’s eyes brightened. Lindy was happy too.