Soon after Thanksgiving in 1985, I decided to buy my first Christmas tree to make my house more festive for the season. My younger sister was now living in the same town and attending college, and I asked her to go with me. There was heavy snowfall at that time and because Missouri doesn't clear the roads all that well and my fear of winter driving, my sister and I decided to walk to the nearest retailer that would have artificial trees to sell, Places. We were looking at several trees that were on display. I really wanted a six foot tree, but decided I could only afford to buy a four foot tree. Soon a younger thin man with dark hair, beard and mustache approached us and asked if he could help. I pointed at one of the four foot trees and indicated we wanted to buy it. He was very nice and got a box with a tree for us and had us go to the checkout counter with him. He just kept smiling and asking if we were sure we had enough decorations. I couldn't imagine why one box of garland, ornaments and lights wouldn't be enough for just a four foot tree. He seemed to have trouble getting the sale to go through on the cash register and kept fiddling around with it. Then my sister and I trekked back to my house and happily began setting up the tree. I can laugh now when I recall that we kept commenting on it being a "tall" four foot tree. And there weren't enough decorations! So, we trekked back to the store and bought a couple more boxes of everything. The same man checked us out, and he still just kept smiling. It wasn't until sometime after we came home again that I glanced at the box and read that it was a six foot tree! The man had generously given us a six foot tree for the price of a four foot tree. On several occasions after that day I would visit that store, hoping to see that man again. But I never did see him again. His generous heart still touches me to think about it today.
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