sonrisas: smaller but bigger

My little brother Eric taught me something yesterday.

The explanation from the beginning:
I had a really fun day with my family and the last thing we did was go to the dollar theater.
My mom allowed Hannah (10) and Eric (8) to buy one $2 candy item to share.
They bought a small package of Sour Punch Straws.
Then we had to wait for the movie to start so Steven and I lovingly teased Eric like older siblings are allowed to do. I hid the candy for a while but then gave it back to him. :D

Before we went into the movie, Steven and I bought candy for ourselves: a large package of Sour Punch Straws and another package of licorice like candy.
Basically- and probably more consciously than not- we were very discreet about our candy in order to avoid having to share it (and Steven put one of them in his pocket to hide it). (Steven and I did share with our friend Johnita, but it didn't crossed my mind to share with my siblings...)

A little while into the movie Eric reached over and handed Steven and me 2 of his sour punch straws (remember that he started with only half of a small package...).
Steven was sitting next to Eric so I had him ask Eric why he was giving these to us. Eric said it was because he wanted to share.
I don't think he knew that we already had more candy than him. Maybe he was just getting tired of the sour candy. Maybe he remembered us teasing him and took that to mean that we wanted some of his candy. Whether or not any of that is true, he shared his small portion with us.

At the risk of sounding trite, I will say this: It touched me.
It was such a small, simple, and profoundly selfless act.
It made me think twice about how I had acted and about the attitude and subliminal message that I conveyed.

I shared one of my sour punch straws with him after that; Needless to say, Eric's gesture was much much bigger.
I wish we all treated each other like that all the time.
The world would be a happier place if we did.