Awesome Mother's Day Present

Before you start judging me because I'm focusing on the gift-giving part of Mother's Day rather than the joy of spending time with my children, let me state that I don't have any children of my own. And even though Ralph has three boys whom I love very much, they obviously went to spend Mother's Day with their moms, so I didn't see them yesterday at all. But on Friday before they left for the weekend, they presented me with this card:

And this bouquet of flowers:

I was surprised because I wasn't expecting anything, not because they aren't thoughtful but because, well, I'm not their mom. Then to add to my surprise, Ralph clipped these two pieces of paper inside the boys' card:

Ralph knew I had taught in South America and had heard me talk about the poverty and lack of basic necessities that plague many of the children there. When he saw that one of the charities he donates to was offering the above programs, he knew I would be interested. I thought it was such a wonderful gesture! It made me so glad to know that he's always looking for ways to help others as well as make me happy (and that he really listens :-)! It's the best present I could ever imagine, and what a surprise!

If you're interested in how you can help a child, here is the site that Ralph used.