Amy stepped closer and touched the gathered, pearl-encrusted skirt. “It’s the loveliest thing I’ve ever seen,” she whispered, “I wish..” she shook her head and tears flooded her eyes.

“Amy,” I said, “What’s the matter?”

Amy whispered: “I wish my mom could have made me a dress just like that one.”

“Amy, I’d be proud if you wore this dress,” I told her, and suddenly she was hugging me and sobbing. Amy tried on the dress and it fit her like a dream. “You just need the shoes,” I told her, “And you’ll be a vision!”

On prom night. Hannah came downstairs in a sophisticated red velvet dress which I thought left too much skin bare and didn’t flatter her coloring at all. She had on an expensive pair of very high heels and carried a sequined red purse.

She looked pretty, but the dress was too ‘old’ for her, though I didn’t tell her so. I told her she looked lovely and she replied coldly: “No thanks to you!”

A few minutes later, Amy and her date arrived, along with Hannah’s date. Amy was an ethereal vision, and she glowed with happiness. “You’re wearing THAT?” asked Hannah scornfully, “SERIOUSLY?”

Amy smiled happily. “Yes, and I love it!”

“You’re such a geek, sometimes, Amy Loften!” Hannah cried, and after posing for snaps they all left. I turned on the TV and sat watching my favorite show, then I had dinner. I kept thinking about Hannah, and I hoped she’d have a magical night to remember.

I was in bed reading when I heard the front door opening a little after midnight. A little while later there was a knock on my bedroom door. “Come in!” I cried, and Hannah walked in. She had obviously been crying, and all of her carefully applied makeup stained her cheeks. She was carrying the glittery shoes by their flimsy straps.

“Mom,” she whispered, “Can I talk to you?”

“Of course, honey! What happened? Are you alright?” I asked, alarmed.

Hannah rushed over to the bed and into my arms. She started crying. “Oh mom, it was AWFUL! There were two other girls in the same dress as me and it was so embarrassing! And the prize…”

Hannah was sobbing so I could hardly understand her. “Amy won the prize with YOUR dress, and everyone went crazy over it and I was so STUPID mom, and I’m so sorry…”

“It’s OK hun,” I said, rocking my girl, just as I’d done when she was little and had scrapped her knees, “It’s all going to be alright.”

“But I was so horrible to you, mom…I am so sorry…I was a jerk, wasn’t I?” she asked.

I smiled. “Just a little…But how about you go and wash your face while I make us some hot chocolate and you can tell me the good parts about the prom?”

Hannah sniffed. “OK…Can I have extra marshmallows? And mom? Do you think I could sleep with you tonight?” I want downstairs to make the hot chocolate with a smile on my face. Hannah had learned a hard lesson, but it had made her my sweet little girl again.

What can we learn from this story?

1. The dollar price on something doesn’t always reflect its true worth. Worth and value are two very different things.

2. Something you reject as worthless may well become someone else’s greatest treasure.

Share this story with your friends. It might brighten their day and inspire them.