I had mentioned my brother's birthday in passing, and thought no more about it afterwards. So when I opened the front door, I was surprised to see my two small next-door neighbors. They surprised me even more when they presented me with gifts and the message: "Dese is fowa Kaweb."

When Caleb came home, I watched him rip open the packages. They were wrapped in pale blue construction paper, with more tape than paper. When opened, we spread out the goodies and were faced with a touching bounty: seven Crayola crayons - orange-red, carnation pink, mahogany, orchid, peach, lavender, and the crowning glory - silver. There were also five baseball cards and a lollipop of dubious flavor; a fluorescent green bracelet done in a geometric, "Indian"-style design; an orange ping-pong ball; a yellow cardboard fish laced with a green shoelace. These were followed by a purple dinosaur eraser and an orange ring; a small wooden, yellow bead; two yellow Legos, one white and one red; and eleven cents consisting of a 1986 penny, a 1969 nickel, and a 1987 nickel. These small treasures were given with no thought of being returned, and they glowed with love. Surely, these gifts were better than anything bought for tremendous amounts of money, for they were gifts from the heart. n