Recently the store added a new machine.  For two quarters, it offered a pair of necklaces, each with a half of one heart reading "Best Friend".  After a very brief conference, my daughters pooled their quarters and bought the necklaces.  Suddenly, memory transported me to a holiday season almost forgotten.  

The girls were in year-round school, and had a lengthy track break from Thanksgiving to New Year's Day.  Weeks into this "vacation", it was too cold to play outside.  All my holiday preparations were complicated by the fact that they were always under foot.  They were bored and cranky, and my patience was wearing thin.  

Suddenly the sounds of fighting broke out in their bedroom.  I felt like exploding.  I forced myself to breathe, and said to myself "There is another way..."  Not a profound truth, but it calmed me.  It allowed a new idea to enter in.  I went to my hiding place and pulled out two necklaces, each half of a heart with the words "Best Friend".  I carried the necklaces with me to their room.  

Imagine their surprise when instead of joining in the yelling, I invited them both to sit by my side and talk.  I talked about the rowdy sibling rivalry between my sister and me.  Yet my sister is now my best friend, the one who has witnessed and shared my whole life.  I told them I felt I had wasted all those years being her enemy, and could have been best friends all along.  I suggested that when they had a disagreement, they could choose to sit quietly and put their "hearts" together until the peaceful answer came to them.  With their new necklaces, they each returned to the bedroom with a new best friend.  

Often after that, I would see them sitting, arms around each other, hearts together, whispering.  

Time has taken these toys away.  But as I watched my daughters, I knew the real gift remained.  

What a beautiful world it will be as we all learn to put our hearts together and listen for answers.  There is another way.