The Gift
Stephen Mosher
The Moshers moved. We moved a lot. Before I was five years old we had traveled back and forth from different places in Texas and California and, by the time I was old enough to remember houses and neighborhood playmates, we were living in Louisiana. Then came New Jersey, followed by Ohio, and, eventually, we were living in Portugal, and then Switzerland, which is where I graduated High School and struck out on my own. We usually averaged about four years per home, though there was a stop or two that was less. The reason for all of the transience was Me Father’s work. Daddy was a rising star in the business world, and, in record time, had made it to a management position at the company. In fact, my father was a Wunderkind whose talents were so prominent that he was sent to branches of the company that were in trouble, in order to tidy things up and set the office back on the right track.
The Portugal office was in particular need of my Dad’s skills.
At the time that we arrived in Portugal, there was political unrest in the country and general unrest at the office. The previous management team had not been the kind under which employees like to work. So Me Father walked into an unhappy situation where the team was feeling burned by the bosses, unappreciated by management, and nervous about their workplace. They had no idea what a joy it would be to work alongside John Mosher.
My Father is a very kind man. He loves people and he wants them to succeed, to be happy, to feel fulfilled, and if he can be a building block to those feelings of satisfaction, he is made, doubly, happy for the feelings of the team with which he works. My Father is a leader, not a boss, the kind who will be in charge of an operation, but roll up his sleeves and get dirty with the workers. I believe this attitude to be equal parts upbringing (his father was a good, no, a great man), natural instinct, and military training. My Dad walked into the Lisbon office ready to be a leader, a colleague, and a friend. And the people there didn’t know what to do with him. They hadn’t seen management like this before and they loved it. They loved him. Before long, that office was running smoothly and joyfully, as though there had never been any issue at all.
My parents are partners. They work side by side in all things. Yes, there are discussions, yes there are words used, yes there are raised voices, but then they go back to the beginning. Side by side. Partners. My Mother took her work as an Executive’s Wife very seriously. She became a part of the office, she got to know the people, she planned and participated in social activities and team-building events. She was more than just The Boss’s Wife to those people - she was a friend and an inspiration.
One year, at the office Christmas party (where an elaborate talent show was performed, with everyone contributing), one of the company’s executives asked My Mam and Pap to accompany him to the building garage - the office had a Christmas present for Mama. In the garage, the executive walked Mom and Dad over to his car and popped the trunk. Inside was a full set of crystal (I believe it is Atlantis, a popular Portuguese brand). There were glasses of various shapes and sizes and decanters, to go with the wine glasses, water glasses, highball glasses, and all the rest). My parents were shocked by the extravagant gesture but it was clear that the gift was one that came from the heart… from the hearts of all the employees who had come to love her for the kindness and generosity she showed them, for the dignity and respect with which they treated the entire office. And, so, Mama and Daddy effusively thanked the executive (and, eventually, everyone) for this overwhelming gift and they transferred the boxes of crystal to the trunk of their own car.
In the following weeks, my parents had to go shopping for a china hutch. They found one that came as a set - a hutch, a big dining table, and eight tall-back leather chairs. The crystal was situated on display in the hutch and this became our dining room. This is where the Mosher family meals took place. This is where birthday parties were held and cake was served. This was where guests dined and homework was done. It was Nineteen Seventy-Six.
It is now Two Thousand Twenty-Three. That is still our dining room. The china hutch is old, it’s a little beat up, some of the varnish has rubbed off, one of the handles has come loose, and a variety of new glasses, snifters, and other stemware live in the hutch. But the Atlantis crystal is still there, on display, untouched by time, and a shining example of what kindness can inspire others to do, in gratitude.
