the kindhearted and quiet and hardworking kid

who comes and goes

without much of a pattern

asking if i’ll hire him

to shovel my snow and mow my lawn

now has a name – ‘max’

and his legend is growing and spreading

he came once when i wasn’t home

and my neighbor paid him to do my lawn

in return for the help i’d given her in the past

and the next time he was over mowing

max suddenly stopped his mower

because he found a baby squirrel

who had fallen from the nest in the tree

 and was sitting motionless and scared

we tried to pick the squirrel up

but he feebly ran away

into my neighbor’s yard

who then came out to help

and we all took him to my other neighbor’s house

who loves the squirrels

and said that he didn’t look good

 put him in his backyard and see if he would play

then brought him back

and laid him down below my tree

the squirrel soon passed away

and we buried him in the garden

and now, after meeting him

 my other neighbor has given max a job as well

and as more and more

of his generous and hard-working sprit is revealed

his business and his reputation as a decent human being

both continue to grow.

—

“as much as we need a prosperous economy,

we also need a prosperity of kindness and decency.”

-caroline kennedy