Love Dispensed

Reagan stared out the large window bubbling with excitement, yet hardly daring to move.

“Do you see him? He is gorgeous,” she breathed out, afraid even her speaking would frighten him away.

“What’s that,” Aldo said distractedly in his Italian accent she couldn’t get enough of.

She chanced a glance at him and nearly barked out a laugh, but turned it into a low giggle just in time.

Aldo sat hunched over, his dark almost black hair had fallen in front of those chocolate eyes she so often got lost in, and he was focused on his task at hand. He was fighting a long length of tape, looking like a sweet little toddler deep in concentration over a simple job. As brilliant as this man of hers was he could struggled with some of the simplest things.

She took one more admiring gaze at the barn owl hiding in the pine tree just outside the window, and then turned away to go help her husband.

“You know your problem love, I should have told you the teeth on that tape dispenser are horrible. They have not been able to cut the tape since long before I was born.”

Memories of past holidays and special events spent in this beautiful old cabin, where her mother grew up, filled her mind. A single memory came to the forefront of the collage. She could picture her father in the same chair Aldo now sat in and could hear him complaining about the same tape dispenser.

“Why do we keep this thing, it’s never worked?”

“You know why dear,” her mom had cooed, and she began the story Reagan and her siblings heard every time someone would complain about the tape dispenser.

“It reminds me of my parents, their love, and wisdom,” her mom had said. “I remember how excited dad was to give it to mom. He thought he had just saved the day making one task a little simpler for her. I was fascinated by it for some reason and one day trying to reach it on the bookshelf, without help or permission, it came crashing down. When it hit the floor the tape went rolling away, it bent the cutting teeth in, and left a little dent in the wood floor. I was terrified I’d be in big trouble and ran to hide. There were not many places to hide in here then, it was before we added on the extra rooms, so mama found me pretty quick. I was shaking and bawling, sure I had ruined it, sure mom and dad would hate me forever. Mama reached for me and pulled me into her embrace, asking me to tell her what happened. I sobbed out my confession and apology while she rubbed my back. Once I finished she turned my face to hers, and wiping away my tears told me I was more important than any object she owned. My sorrowful heart began to heal as she took my hand and walked me back to the wounded tape dispenser. Sitting on the floor she taught me another lesson I’ll never forget. Together we examined the damage to the floor and dispenser while she compared them to life.

‘We all make mistakes Gracie,’ she started to explain, ‘it’s what we do when we make them that matters. Mistakes will happen your whole life and the best thing to do is learn from them. This mark,’ she said while gently rubbing her fingers over the dent, ‘will stay on the floor forever changing how it was before, just like the mistakes you make will change you forever. How you choose to look at your mistakes will make all the difference. You can see them as horrible things that destroyed you or you can see them as something that develops your character and helps you become better than you were before.’

Moving her hand from the dent to the tape dispenser nearby she continued, ‘Now, take a look at the tape dispenser and give it a try.’

I remember thinking it seemed just fine, but as I pulled out a little tape and pulled it down to cut it off like it always had before, I was surprised to find it just pulled more tape off the roll. I looked up at mama in worry, she stroked my cheek and spoke gently easing the worries away again.

‘See how it will never work as it once did, it will not be easy to use the dispenser anymore. You need to remember that sometimes our mistakes will make life harder. This is why it is so very important to think about our actions carefully. Your actions can leave lasting imprints, like the dent on the floor, and nothing you do will change that. You will have times when your actions will make a huge difference to yourself and others, so it is up to you to try and make sure the actions help yourself and others become better not worse.’

Mama gave me a hug and told me never to forget that as she placed the dispenser back on the shelf and sent me off to play. She kept the dispenser and from that day on whenever I would try to use it or would happen to notice the little dent on the floor I would ask myself if all my actions were doing good.”

“So I’ve noticed,” Aldo’s voice brought Reagan back to the present day, all thoughts of the beautiful owl outside fled as he probably had when she moved. “You see my mess. Every time I try to cut it off more comes. What do I do now?” He said with an exasperated flourish causing more tape to pull off the roll.

Laughing, Reagan sat down and started rolling the excess tape back onto the roll as best she could, asking, “Where are the scissors?”

“Probably under the wrapping paper,” Aldo harrumphed.

Reagan found the scissors and they worked together to finish wrapping the gift for her niece. Sounds of laughter rang out from the kitchen where the rest of her family sat playing card games around the table and waiting for the birthday dinner to be ready.

“There’s a story about this old tape dispenser,” Reagan hinted.

“Oh really,” Aldo questioned.

Reagan smiled and began the tale, imagining the day they would share it with their own children.

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If you enjoy family stories check out this short one about my own.