Once there was a girl named Coral Graf who lived in the Upper East Side of New York City. She lived with her father and mother in a red brick high-rise apartment with many neighbors. Her father owned a local Jewish deli where a sandwich cost 35 cents. In the winter, the city was blanketed with snow, which muffled the sound of the traffic.
At least three days a week, Coral’s mother was a telephone switchboard operator at the Empire State Building. Whenever nine-year-old Coral visited her mom at work, she helped her plug the long black wires into different holes that lit up. Coral always got herself tangled in the wires, but she thought if she helped her mom that she might somehow get a raise.
Ever since Coral was a baby, the man who lived upstairs in their apartment building dropped pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, half dollars, and dollar coins, through the heating vent for the Graf family. Coral had gotten used to the sound of falling coins.
“Coral, I need you to help the people in the neighborhood,” she heard a voice boom one day through the vent. “Don’t keep the coins only for yourself!”
“Yes, sir,” Coral called. “Mom, did you just hear what the man upstairs told us? Did Dad hear him, too?”
“It was hard to miss,” Mrs. Graf said. “His voice is so loud that my ears are still ringing.”
“Why did he have to choose us?” Mr. Graf said. “I guess because we’re downstairs.”
Coral always wondered where the man upstairs got so many coins. She considered he might be a billionaire that wanted to get rid of his spare change. If it wasn’t from his leftover change, it seemed like a lot of trips to the bank to exchange dollar bills for coins. Since money was tight, most people hoarded every penny, nickel, and dime that they could find. The man who lived above her parents’ apartment seemed like a generous man with a big heart.
“We don’t want your money!” Coral’s father yelled at the man upstairs through the ceiling. Her father banged on the ceiling with the broom handle and yelled: “Stop!”
When the man upstairs continued to drop the change, Mrs. Graf set out a tin can, to collect it. Coral thought it was better than letting the coins roll all over the floor. She liked to take the money from the tin can and organize it in stacks, so she could count how much money was there. Then, she could plan what to do with it.
“Well, since the man upstairs insists on giving us money, then we have to give it away to people who need it,” Mrs. Graf said told Coral. “We can buy some people sandwiches and hand them out on the street corner tomorrow.”
The next morning, in the dreamy white snow, Mr. and Mrs. Graf, with Coral at their side, gave sandwiches to every hungry person on the block. Coral also slipped several people handfuls of pennies and other coins when her parents weren’t looking. She thought the man who lived above her would be happy that his money was making so many people happy.
Since Coral’s family gave away so many sandwiches and handfuls of coins, the other neighbors in the building joined in by handing out extra snacks. Some even gave away old clothes and shoes that they didn’t need anymore. Coral thought this was wonderful and much better than keeping the money for herself.
One day, when the tin can overflowed with coins, the man upstairs stopped dropping the coins. Coral knew that her parents were extra busy at their jobs and could not find time to give the money away. She knew money was tight, and at first, she even thought that keeping the coins for her family was a good idea. Maybe she could buy an extra special doll or stuffed animal with the coins. Sometimes, it was nice to do something for yourself.
“What are we going to do with those coins?” Mr. Graf asked, as he ate a corned beef sandwich and sauerkraut from his deli. “Lately, the man upstairs hasn’t dropped much since we didn’t give anything away. He must think we’ve become lazy and selfish.”
“Coral, we thought that maybe the man upstairs wanted us to keep a few pennies every now and then,” Mrs. Graf said, as she enjoyed a bagel and lox. “What do you think we should buy with the coins, Coral?”
“Mom, I think we should share the coins with other people who need them more than we do!” Coral said to her mother, as she counted the money in the tin can. Even if she wanted another toy, Coral knew that other people didn’t have food, and she couldn’t let them go hungry.
“You’re probably right,” Mrs. Graf said with a sigh and looked at her husband. He shrugged his shoulders and rolled his eyes.
The next morning, Coral walked with her mother through the Upper East Side giving every last coin in her collection to needy strangers.
Later that night, when Coral placed the empty tin can under her apartment vent, more pennies and other coins came out faster than ever before. Coral thought that the man upstairs dropped these coins since she had just given the last batch away to other people.
From that day on, Coral was in charge of the pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, half dollars, and dollar coins that fell in the tin can from The Man Upstairs. She hoped to meet him someday, but he seemed to keep to himself more than most people. She figured he must trust her family with the extra money, and maybe, he didn’t have time to give it to other people by himself.
“I promise to never hoard the coins for myself,” Coral said. She called to him through the heating vent. “I’ll do as much good with every coin as I possibly can. Thank you for trusting me with your money. I will try to cause small miracles that lead to bigger ones.”
“A generous person will prosper,” the voice of The Man Upstairs boomed through the heating vent. “Whoever refreshes others will be refreshed.”
Over time, Coral had enough coins from The Man Upstairs to change the entire neighborhood. The more coins he gave her; the more she gave away. If she had kept the coins for herself, she might have even been a millionaire, but The Man Upstairs knew she would keep her promise.
Copyright 2015 Jennifer Waters
Dedicated to my grandmother, Augusta Renner Graf Waters.
