Sometimes Love Is Extravagant

When Dave was four or five years old, his best friend Timmy had this nifty snow shovel. Dave loved that shovel and wanted one just like it. He told his dad about it. Off they went to the hardware store to buy one.

They struck out at the first store and headed to check out the selection elsewhere. There they found lots of shovels, but not the shovel. On to another store.

"How about this one?" Dad would ask.

"Nope," Dave would shake his head. "That's not it."

I don't know how many stores they perused; in fact, I don't even know if they ever found that perfect shovel. What I do know is that a grown man has a keen memory of a father who patiently drove all over suburban Detroit to find the shovel his son had his heart set on.

Kolbe and Dave have been watching a You Tube video on how to fashion your own light saber. All week Kolbe has been talking about their upcoming trip to Lowe's. Tonight Kolbe came running to me to show me their purchases.

"I've got to show you what we bought," he said. "This pipe is one and a quarter inches. This one is a half inch. Here are the faucet handles."

It was one big bag chock full of hardware. There were nuts and bolts, washers and dowels, gizmos and gadgets. It's probably going to be one pricey light saber.

"Do you know what this means, Kolbe," I asked.

"My Dad is really nice," he replied.

Our kids don't get everything they want. Many purchases require a bit of a cost-benefit analysis. But once in a while love can be extravagant.