The Best Give Ever

I was sitting at my daughter’s kitchen table, opening Christmas gifts.

My grandson slipped past my surrounding family and threw a Target bag on the table before me. Then he turned and ran as quickly as he came. I asked, “What is that?” My daughter answered, “It is Scotty’s Christmas present to you.”

The bag looked empty. I quickly concluded that whatever was in it was cute but insignificant. But I was wrong. It was the best Christmas present.

I finished opening the other two presents in front of me. They were thoughtful and much appreciated. One was a blue dress shirt. The other was a cool motorcycle desk sculpture made from what looks like a bucket of bolts. I love my motorcycles.

And then I picked up Scotty’s Target bag.

The bag was so light that I thought there wasn’t anything in it. I grabbed around the outside of the bag, trying to feel for anything to indicate there was, in fact, something in the bag. At the bottom of the bag, I felt something small but hard. I couldn’t imagine what it might be.

I reach into the bag. My hand traveled to the bottom of this deep bag, and I felt what felt like a figurine. “What the heck is this? One of Scotty’s action figures?”

What I pulled out of that bag surprised me. It was a five-inch high plastic gold trophy in the exact form of the Hollywood Oscar. A sticker at the bottom of the trophy reads, “Man of the Year.”

I have received some special awards in these last couple of years of business. These included the Lifetime Honorary Award from Startup Atlanta. And The Sig Mosley Entrepreneurial Leader TechBridge Award I received at the Digital Ball of Atlanta. And then there is the most special of all of them, The Siggie Award. It was such an honor to receive these awards, especially with my good friend Sig’s name on it. These recognitions meant so much to me.

But these awards pale compared to the trophy my grandson picked out just for me. To him, my little Scotty, I was the Man of the Year. It brought tears to my eyes. What an honor. I never even thought I was a good grandfather. I would rate myself as OK, but I am not running with the top performers. But what I thought of myself as a grandfather didn’t matter to Scotty. To him, I was better than all those other grandpas. I was the Man of the Year.

I told my daughter Lisa, Scotty’s mom, that Scotty’s Christmas present was my absolute favorite of all the gifts I received. I will treasure it forever. She said, “Scotty loves trophies.”

Then she told Scotty what I said.

She said, “When I told Scotty his gift was your favorite, the biggest smile came to his face.”

He asked, “Is it Grandpa’s favorite trophy?”

She answered, “Absolutely.”

Then she showed him the picture I sent her of the trophy sitting at eye-level in my glass-fronted home office bookcase. This trophy sits on a shelf higher than my Siggie and Lifetime Achievement awards.

I sit in my easy chair right across from my bookcase every morning. My eye goes straight to my “Man of the Year” award. I think about Scotty and then ask God to help me live up to being that man today. It makes me sit up just a bit taller.

Nothing compares or even comes close to being given an award by your grandson recognizing you as Man of the Year.

I’m sure you agree.