Happiness in a preschooler's mite

Our neighborhood has a great system for collecting wedding money for newlyweds from our little corner of the city.  A very kind and efficient coordinator pools money from anyone who wants to contribute and is able to purchase a larger and more useful gift than we could purchase individually.  This morning I realized the deadline was approaching for a couple of weddings, and I mentioned to my three year old son that we needed to take some money over to this neighbor and then we would be headed to the grocery store.  A minute later he emerged from his room holding a box with his treasure, a Chuck-E-Cheese token, a dollar coin gifted from a St. Patrick's day leprechaun, and a few pennies found in the street.  I assumed he wanted to buy himself a treat at the grocery store.  But as we walked to the neighbor's house and I handed her a check, my sweet little boy held out his offering as well.  I quickly tried to correct the mistake and told him that he didn't need to hand over his money, but his chin started to quiver and he innocently looked up at me and said, "But you told me she needed money."  My wise neighbor quickly took the offering, thanked him for his kindness, and handed it back to me when he wasn't watching.  My little boy stepped off that porch with a happy spring in his step as I followed, grateful for the lesson learned from a preschooler's mite.