I told him he was welcome to come again.
On his next trip he arrived a little after seven in the morning. As a gift， he brought a big fish and a quart of the largest oysters I had ever seen. He said he had shucked them that morning before he left so that they’d be nice and fresh. I knew his bus left at 4：00 a.m. and I wondered what time he had to get up in order to do this for us.
In the years he came to stay overnight with us there was never a time that he did not bring us fish or oysters or vegetables from his garden. Other times we received packages in the mail， always by special delivery； fish and oysters packed in a box of fresh young spinach or kale， every leaf carefully washed. Knowing that he must walk three miles to mail these， and knowing how little money he had made the gifts doubly precious. When I received these little remembrances， I often thought of a comment our next-door neighbor made after he left that first morning.
“Did you keep that awful looking man last night？ I turned him away！ You can lose roomers by putting up such people！”
Maybe we did lose roomers once or twice. But oh！ If only they could have known him， perhaps their illnesses would have been easier to bear. I know our family will always be grateful to have known him； from him we learned what it was to accept the bad without complaint.
Recently I was visiting a friend who has a greenhouse. As she showed me her flowers， we came to the most beautiful one of all， a golden chrysanthemum， bursting with blooms. But to my great surprise， it was growing in an old dented， rusty bucket. I thought to myself， If this were my plant， I’d put it in the loveliest container I had！ My friend changed my mind.
“I ran short of pots，” she explained， “and knowing how beautiful this one would be， I thought it wouldn’t mind starting out in this old pail. It’s just for a little while， till I can put it out in the garden.”