Disappointments

Roy waited anxiously to hear from Elsie after sending the box containing the many nice things for their Christmas. He wanted to hear how Elsie enjoyed the things that he had sent her. A few days after Christmas a letter came telling them how much the package was appreciated, but Elsie closed her letter by saying, “I thought surely little Mary would love the doll Roy sent her more than anything else, but she lays it aside to play with her blocks. I never saw a child enjoy anything so much as she does those blocks, and she plays with them by the hour. It is surprising to see how she is learning the letters, too. She knows quite a few of them, and I think in a short time she will know all of them. She says, ‘Tell Untle Woy thanks for the pitty blocks.’ ”

She could have said nothing that would have pleased Roy more than to hear she appreciated those blocks so well, and as he went about his chores or tried to study while in school a picture would come before him of a little girl he called “Peachy,” sitting on the floor playing with blocks. How his heart ached to be near her and aid her in the building of houses, or bridges, but most of all to help her learn the names of the letters on the blocks and then to put them together! Each week brought a letter from Elsie telling about Mary and those interesting blocks. January and February passed, and in March came another letter saying, “Mother, you would be surprised to hear how Mary can spell. She has learned all those letters on the blocks Roy sent her for Christmas and can now spell all the little words on them and can put them together. I have taught her how to spell “Roy,” and she will spell it again and again with her blocks. I am teaching her how to make the letters also. You do not know what a time I am having, for I have to keep her in the house all the time and she must have something to entertain her, and I am certainly kept busy for there is no end to her desire to learn. And what is so remarkable about it she remembers what I tell her so well. I do not think it will be long until she will be reading. If I could get away to get her a book I should do so, but yet, I think she is doing well as she is. I give her pencil and paper, and she lies on her stomach on the floor for an hour at a time making letters. This is a life-saver to me, for she teases me all day long to tell her how to spell first one word and then another. To have any peace at all, I give her pencil and paper and in this way I am left to do something else.”

All these things were talked over by mother and son. David seemed to take no interest in it, as he had other things to occupy his mind, and he chided Roy rather sharply for having no thought other than Peachy, but Mother understood, and many pleasant times were spent together by mother and son planning the future for Mary and the little girl who meant so much to both of them. Roy planned what should take place in the summer when she should again visit them. But he was not waiting until summer to do something for her on which his heart had been set, for when he returned from town the following Saturday afternoon after receiving Elsie’s letter he opened a package containing a primer, some paper and pencils, some chalk, and a small blackboard. These were to be sent to Peachy. Mr. and Mrs. Harmon left their boy to do as he liked about sending things to Mary, and so the following week the package was sent, and there was another anxious wait.

Days passed and although each day Roy inquired if a letter had come from Elsie, he would receive the disappointing answer, “No letter today.” He could scarcely contain himself, for he wanted news from Peachy. After more than a two weeks’ wait he was rewarded, for there was not only a letter from Elsie, but little Mary had also sent a printed letter to Uncle Roy, thanking him for the pretty book, the pencils and paper, the chalk and blackboard, and telling him that she was learning to write. This was all printed, and some of the letters were large, and some small, running up and down the lines, but they meant much to the big boy who loved this little girl so much. This letter was laid away and prized very highly, for it surely meant much to Roy.

But another disappointment was awaiting him, for as much as he had planned on having Peachy with him that summer, in April came a letter from Elsie stating that it would be impossible for her to visit them that summer, explaining to Mother in a way that she understood. Roy was too disappointed to hide the tears, and laying his head over on Mother’s shoulder, the two of them wept out their disappointment together.

“I just feel like starting out and hoofing it there, getting that little Peachy and bringing her right back with me,” said Roy rather indignantly. Mother noticed the indignant ring in his voice and, sitting down with him beside her, she there told him that his future life depended a great deal on conquering self in his early youth, and that he could make this disappointment make a man out of him, or he could harbor his disappointment, feeling that he had been badly abused, and thereby cultivate a sullen, morbid disposition.

“Those who accomplish anything in this world are those who rise above their disappointments and seek to help others,” said she as she gave him an affectionate pat on the shoulder. “I know that my boy is greatly disappointed, but no more so than I am. But now what shall we do? I mean to try to help you by making things pleasant for you and bring something else in your life to cover this disappointment in a measure, and now what are you going to do?”

Roy looked down at the floor where he was sitting for some time and then, lifting his head, he gave his Mother that knowing look as he said, “I understand, Mother, and I shall forget my own disappointment and try to cover yours in some way,” and this he did. There was not any little act of kindness which he did not perform for her. He had always been a very tender, affectionate child, but he became more tender, and Mother, noticing each little attention, tried in every way that she could to do something for her boy to help him to overcome in this disappointment in his life. Roy would whistle as he went about his work at the house or barn or in the field, and often when his mother denied herself something that she might do for her boy, Roy would whistle or sing the louder as he would say, “Mother understands.” Then there would be something for him to do that he might repay his mother for the little sacrifice which she had made for him. In this way Roy soon overcame his own disappointment and in after years looked back on this little experience as something which helped him to be an overcomer in later life.