How much do you earn?

A man came home from work late, tired and irritated, to find his 5-year old son waiting for him at the door. 

SON: "Daddy, may I ask you a question?" 

DAD: "Yeah sure, what is it?" replied the man. 

SON: "Daddy, how much do you make an hour?" 

DAD: "That's none of your business. Why do you ask such a thing?" the man said angrily. 

SON: "I just want to know. Please tell me, how much do you make an hour?" 

DAD: "If you must know, I make $40 an hour." 

SON: "Oh," the little boy replied, with his head down. 

SON: "Daddy, may I please borrow $20?" 

The father was furious, "If the only reason you asked that is so you can borrow some money to buy a silly toy or some other nonsense, then you march yourself straight to your room. The little boy quietly went to his room and shut the door. 

The man had calmed down, and started to think: Maybe there was something he really needed to buy with that $20 and he really didn't ask for money very often. The man went to the door of the little boy's room and opened the door." Are you asleep, son?" He asked. 

"No daddy, I'm awake," replied the boy. "I've been thinking, maybe I was too hard on you earlier" said the man. Here's the $20 you asked for." 

The little boy sat straight up, smiling. "Oh, thank you daddy!" He yelled. Then, reaching under his pillow he pulled out some crumpled up bills. The man saw that the boy already had money, started to get angry again. The little boy slowly counted out his money, and then looked up at his father. "Why do you want more money if you already have some?" the father grumbled. "Because I didn't have enough, but now I do," the little boy replied. 

"Daddy, I have $40 now. Can I buy an hour of your time? 

Please come home early tomorrow. I would like to have dinner with you." 

The father was crushed. He put his arms around his little son, and he begged for his forgiveness. 

A reminder to all of us working so hard in life. We should not let time slip through our fingers without having spent some time with those who really matter to us, those close to our hearts.