I once dated a single mom with a five year-old son.  The three of us were very close and I spent a lot of time with the young boy. I liked him and he liked me. We, all three, got along splendidly.   

The boy’s name was Peter, and he and his mom lived on the third floor of an apartment building that was built into the side of a hill in San Rafael, California.  From the highway, you entered a large parking lot that occupied the downhill side of the building.  To enter the building, you walked through the carport, climbed three flights of stairs, walked around to the other side of the building and then traversed a pleasant wooden walkway that was set into the side of the hill.   All of the upper floor apartments entered off of this walkway - each with a beautiful, woodsy setting right outside their front door.

Entering the front door of the apartment, you could walk straight through the living room and a small dining area, to a sliding glass door.  The glass door opened on to a small wooden balcony which in turn looked back down upon the parking lot, three stories below.  One side of the apartment was set into the cool, green shade of manzanita and eucalyptus trees.  The other side basked in the rising shimmer of hot, asphaltic air.

•

For Christmas one year, I took a stockpile of pennies that had been accumulating in a large jar on my dresser and dumped them, about 1,500 in all, into a festive holiday cookie tin.  I wrapped the tin, attached a bow and gave it to Peter for Christmas, along with a note that read: “Let me, if only once in my life, be rich.”

•     

Because there were so many parents in the apartment complex, with so many kids and so little time, an informal babysitting arrangement had evolved.  If a parent needed to leave for a short period of time, they informed a neighbor and their child was added to the great pack of children that roamed the parking lot at all hours of the day.   The kids roamed through the building, in and out of various apartments and rode their bikes and played noisy games in the parking lot. They were a remarkably well-behaved bunch that played well together and major squabbles were uncommon. 

On this day, Peter’s mom and I had gone off to do some grocery shopping and Peter had been left in the care of the pack.  As we pulled back into the parking lot upon our return, we noticed that the pack had taken on a new dynamic.  They were gathered in a tight knot at the edge of the building.  Half the kids were looking upward, squealing and pointing with great excitement.  The other half were scurrying madly,this way and that, chasing something on the ground.  

Something that glittered and sparkled was falling from the sky. 

Our eyes followed the sparkling trajectory upwards.  The objects seemed to originate from Peter’s balcony.  And in fact, up on the balcony like Caesar himself, young Peter was grinning broadly and casting great handfuls of pennies outwards and downward like a great king tossing pittance to his minions.  The pinging, tinging and ringing of the pennies on pavement further keyed the excitement below.

“Peter,” his mother called up to the balcony, her tone friendly and unconcerned, “how much money do you have left?”   With a great satisfied grin Peter flashed the empty cookie tin – upon which guilty-looking kids stuffed last handfuls of pennies into their pockets and ran for the shadows. 

Peter’s mom and I looked at each other and then up at Peter.  Peter smiled.  Peter’s mom smiled.  We shrugged our shoulders and headed for the stairway with our bags of groceries. The world is full of so many problems… this just wasn’t one ofthem. 

When we finally arrived at the balcony, Peter had only one question: “Can I throw the tin too?” 

“Sure,” I said, looking to mom for assurance, “if you go down and get it.”

His mom nodded. He tossed the tin, and we all peered over the railing and watched it fall, looking at each other with wry satisfaction at the great noise that it made when it hit.  Peter ran off to retrieve the cookie tin.  His mom started putting away groceries, and I checked my pockets to see if I had any more pennies.