Birthday Gift

“Wish on everything. Pink cars are good, especially old ones. And stars of course, first stars and shooting stars. Planes will do if they are the first light in the sky and look like stars. Wish in tunnels, holding your breath and lifting your feet off the ground. Birthday candles. Baby teeth.”
-Francesca Lia Block - American Author




Perhaps there is still some happiness in the world. Six-year-old Gabriel Hurles found it wrapped in a birthday present. The kindergartner was eating cupcakes his mother had brought to his class on Wednesday so he didn't even notice an enormous wrapped box off to the side.
"That's one big, giant present," a classmate told him. "See what you got, Gabriel."




What did he find inside? His father, an Army mechanic back on leave from his second tour in Iraq. "It's my dad!" he screamed, "Hi daddy!" His father,Casey Hurles, 23, hadn't Gabriel since leaving in June. When he learned he would be back just before his son's birthday, he came up with a plan to hide in the 4-foot-tall present. "It was such a rush of emotion," he said. The teacher, Ms. Dawn VanSickle was glad to be a part of the reunion. ""One of the first things Gabriel shared about himself was that his dad was in Iraq and that he was waiting for his dad to come home," she said. "He talks about his dad all the time."

There is definitely happiness in this world. We just have to find it. So please, don't be afraid to dream. Don't be afraid to wish. And please, please don't be afraid to make a wish come true.