“Hey, dad, why do you always keep that small jar of
change on your desk at work?” Little Jimmy asks his father.
“It is
my inspiration to remind me that every little thing matters at the end of the
day,” he tells his young son.
“Can
you tell me the story dad?” Jimmy asks his father.
“Only
if you listen to the entire story,” the man tells his son.
“Will
do, dad” Jimmy said and the man began telling his story.
When I
was a little kid there was this old man who always grabbed loose change from
the ground. It did not matter if it was a penny or even a dollar bill, he would
pick it up and place it in his pocket. It confused people in his family because
he was a very wealthy man and the change he picked up was nothing compared to
what he had.
The
only person who never said he was crazy was Clark, the little boy that lived
next door to the old man. In fact, whenever he found change on the ground he
would go next door and give it to the old man. The old man did not like Clark
doing this, but he liked having the kid over since his own grandchildren never
see him. Clark enjoyed visiting the old man because his parents worked late
hours, and were barely home. His older sister spent most of her time talking on
the phone, ignoring him. The old man started calling Clark his grandson, and
allowed Clark to take change from the many jars in his house if Clark needed
anything.
Clark
only took change for two reasons: to buy ice cream or to go to the arcade a few
blocks down. Whenever Clark and the old man went anywhere, they would pick up
any loose change they could find. One night they brought home twenty dollars in
loose change. Because Clark was too young to stay on his own, the old man
watched Clark so the parents could work, and the sister could go out with her
friends.
As
Clark got older, he still visited the old man. The only thing that changed was
that instead of buying ice cream, he would now take the change to buy clothes.
The old man started to have a decline in health, so they used the loose change
to buy his medication and his vitamins. Even though they started to spend the
change, the jars never seemed to dwindle.
Clark
had good grades in school, but his teachers always said he never applied
himself, so the old man made a deal with Clark. If Clark could get good grades
without the negative feedback, he would buy Clark a car. After months of hard
work, Clark went next door to show the old man his report card: three As, three
Bs, one ungraded class, and two remarks simply saying, “shows improvement.” As
promised the old man took the change from three jars, went to the car lot, and
Clark left the lot with his first car ever. It was no new car by any means, the
old man said Clark needed to improve his driving before he is ready to own a
new vehicle. Clark did not care about the age or shape of his car, all that
mattered to him was that he had a car.
As
Clark got older, he brought more change to his neighbor. Unfortunately, the old
man had now been confined to a wheelchair. So when the two went out, Clark
picked up any loose change the old man saw since he was in a wheelchair and
could not pick up the change himself.
Clark
had another milestone in his life, he had met the girl of his dreams, and was
ready to marry her. Then a problem came up, her family was very poor and could
not afford the wedding the two wanted. Clark was part of a wealthy family, but
his parents hated the idea of him marrying someone that was very poor. The old
man, wanting to help his “grandson” took as many jars of change as he could to
the bank and helped pay for Clark to marry the girl he had fallen in love with.
Not only did the old man pay for the wedding, he also paid for the honeymoon.
He paid for a one week cruise for the two to go to the Bahamas.
The
old man took another decline in health, now he was losing his vision. Though
the newlyweds were fresh out of college, they took the old man into their home.
Clark felt this was not enough because the old man did so much for him when he
was growing up. The old man took up two rooms in the house: one to sleep in and
one to keep the change he and Clark had accumulated over the years. The old man
refused to live there for free, he always helped pay the bills, even though
they never wanted him to.
One
night the old man went to bed, little did Clark know, this would be the last
night the old man would live. He passed away in his sleep that night. After
knowing the old man since he was a little kid, he finally met the children and
grandchildren. Sadly, they never had anything to do with him but quickly showed
up when it was time for the reading of his will. The will was very small, both
of his children would get five-hundred dollars a piece. Each of his
grandchildren got a $1,000.00 savings bond. Then the final part of his will
said:
I am leaving everything else to the only
child that I felt was my grandson, Clark. Though we are not blood he is the
only one deserving of my fortunes. Clark, my only request to you is that you
chase your dreams and always love your wife.
Clark
received nearly one million dollars from the old man, but this was only part of
the fortune. Clark still had the jars of loose change in his house, the coins
he and the old man had collected over the years. Part of the will requested
that Clark finally cash in the coins they collected over the years and chase
the dream he always wanted. Clark cashed in every jar but one, he wanted a
reminder to himself that he became who he is because of the old man and his
change. He wanted a reminder of all the fun times he had with the old man.
When
Clark cashed in every jar he had the grand total was over one hundred thousand
dollars. He kept his promise to the old man and chased his dream. Clark
patented an item he had dreamt of since his childhood, and marketed the item.
Clark turned his item into a business, and after five years of business, Clark
now owns a Fortune 500 company.
“So
dad the kid in the story was you?” little Jimmy asked.
“You
are right son” Clark said to his son, “I keep this jar of change to remind me
of the man that helped shape me and this company.”
“I
wanted to tell you this story because the old man always told me three words Chase your dreams and that advice is
what I live by and I want you to live by that advice as well.”
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