The Richards family had a present which they gave to their grandfather-the patriarch of the clan.
When he opened the package, he recognized the contents immediately- a fruitcake.
Pretending to act glad that he was the actual owner of something that was so "overrated," he said a hardy "Thank you.
" Yet, he already knew what he was going to do with it - lay it down and hope the dog would eat it.
However, that was not the fate of this fruitcake.
The dog never ate it.
It was simply laid on the center of the family table and left there for weeks.
Grandpa Richards died in the middle of January from heart complications.
The fruitcake remained on the family table during the 'wake' at the Richard's house.
It looked like a brick just lying there, never to enjoy a finer life.
However, its fate would soon change.
A week after the wake, Buck, one of the Richards sons, stood staring at it.
When he picked it up, he noticed it was as heavy as a brick.
Seeing no other use for it, he placed it in front of the porch door that separates the living room from the patio itself.
Instantly, the old "brick" with "fruit filling" became a useful doorstop.
In March, little Nicky Richards had been going to a community college for the past year and had a collection of books.
She moved the "doorstop," and set it at the end of a row of books to keep them propped up.
It seemed that no instrument could hold all of the books in place except the "sweet brick" that had previously been a doorstop.
However, that Summer, Nicky moved away to college and once again, the "employment opportunities" for the "fruitcake," once "doorstop" then "shelf-book-end" was at a dead-end.
Mrs.
Richards saw the enigma sitting on the shelf where Nicky had left it.
Seeing no useful alternative for it, she decided to give it to her husband.
When he looked at it, he said to himself, "I have just the thing! This "brick" would be a good tool to help measure the level of the wood.
" In two weeks, with the help of the fruitcake, he had built a fine doghouse.
That Fall, two of the Richard's boys who walked to school and back, frequently ran into two bullies who threatened to take their lunch money.
The brothers took the "brick' with them.
Whenever those bullies came to steal their lunch money, they offered the fruitcake to them.
If the bullies took it, there would be no problem.
But, if they rejected it, the Richards boys would take turns getting hit with it.
This didn't happen.
The Richards attacked the bullies by whacking them on their heads with it.
Those bullies never tried to steal their lunch money again.
Yet, the brick's employment was not finished.
The boys began to use it as a weight that they could work out with and develop muscles.
After the fruitcake continued to be the center of their weight training, the boys became more muscular.
The fruitcake had served its purpose and the bullies began to back away, now that the boys looked a little bit more like "Arnold Schwarzenegger".
A month later, Christmas came again.
Although the family sadly remembered that Grandpa Richards was not with them, they did remember the fruitcake that was given to the oldest member.
It seemed as though the fruitcake had become a valuable "house item" that had served the family on quite a few occasions.
In a way, they believed that the fruitcake may have been endowed with their Grandpa's spirit to help them when he could not.
On the other hand, the Richards knew that the fruitcake is not much good if it's eaten.
Nevertheless, when the Christmas dinner was being served, the father added this sentence to the dinner prayer, "...
And God, thank you for the fruitcake.
"