A short time before Christmas the teacher asked her class two questions: "Who among you considers themselves poor? And who should get a Christmas present?"
The children who considered themselves poor raised their hands.
It was a small town and everyone knew everyone else. They not only knew each other by name, but knew who their relations were and how much money they had. After school the teacher called eight year old Dini to her office. His family had recently immigrated and settled in the town and were very poor.
She asked him to sit down and then asked why he had not put up his hand.
Dini replied: "Because I am not poor."
"Who do you think is poor?"
"Those children who don't have parents."
She looked at him in amazement and silence and then let him go home.
The following day Dini's father came home with a big smile on his face. He said that the teacher had come to visit him at work. "We should be very proud of our son," he said to his wife and told her what Dini had said to his teacher.
On Christmas Eve, Dini received a big parcel. It contained two pairs of brand new shoes, one for him and one for his little sister. They had never had new shoes before.
But even if the present had never come, Dini knew that his family was the richest in the world.
The family is the only true bank account. Don't ever let it go into the red. Every day invest affection, tenderness, care, fidelity and sacrifice in it. The interest is great.