My name is Andrew, and I am 15 years old. All my life, I have received various gifts from my parents, and of course, I was grateful, but at the end of the day, I had a bad feeling that I couldn’t give back to them. It wasn’t always like that. The first time I felt it was when I was 11 and given a brand-new iPhone 6. I was pleased, but as I said, I felt terrible that my parents always gave me wonderful gifts. One day at dinner when I was 6, all the times I felt bad accumulated in the depth of my soul, and I decided to promise my parents that one day I would buy dad a Lamborghini. I don’t remember exactly what was running through my mind then, but it felt necessary to say. To my surprise, no one took me seriously, and everyone just laughed and said I was boasting. I was probably talking and making this promise to myself rather than to anyone else because I believed that anything that people say and put their minds to will eventually come true. Interestingly, this promise was recorded, and to this day, my dad still has it and often plays it for me, and we laugh. Now that I am 15, I doubt I’ll buy him a Lamborghini, but we still have time to see. However, in my heart, I always knew that when I started to make money, I would buy my parents many gifts to thank them. And last summer, I could give back for the first time.

            It was just a simple part-time job for the summer as an assistant at an office that earned me $12 an hour for printing documents, bringing coffee, and cleaning. On top of that, this office was an hour and a half away from my house, so I had to ride the subway and train to get there. The job would start at 9:00 am, so I had to wake up at 7:00 am during my summer break.  And yes, it is a smaller wage than I’d make at McDonald’s. You might ask why I would work there if McDonald’s is closer to my house, allows a free schedule, and arguably is easier, but the office job looked better on my resume.

So, for every day of my summer except for Sundays and the 4th of July, I had to wake up at 7:00 am to catch the 7:30 train to Brooklyn to get to work on time.  I worked for five hours because my parents wanted me to do an SAT practice test every evening.  After calculations, you can figure out that I would go to bed at 9:00 pm just to wake up the next day and do the same thing again. The subway rides to the office were lonely and boring, with no WIFI underground, but I wasn’t mad or upset. Instead, I was delighted and had a smile on my face looking out the window and into absolute darkness with flashing wires on the wall. I had a motivation, a strong motivation.

I was thrilled because it was my first job making money, not counting doing chores. My family was going on a vacation on the 15th of July, which gave me 55 days to work, and I had a clear goal: buy my dad a birthday gift. His birthday was on the 12th of July. I would make around $600 over a month and a half.  And, of course, I had a lot of things I wanted to buy, such as new soccer cleats for the upcoming season, clothes, and many other things. However, in my mind, I always felt I should buy my dad a gift. When I was small, my dad told me he never celebrated his birthdays growing up and never received any gifts because his parents didn’t think it was necessary. “It must be awful not to celebrate your birthday,” I would say. Thankfully, my parents always ensured I had a gift and cake for my birthday. And that is exactly why I owed my parents. Therefore, I decided to use the money I made to buy my dad a birthday gift he deserves.  Now that I had set my goal, every lonely ride didn’t seem as bad because I imagined how happy my dad would be when he received his first birthday gift.

Another question arose after I decided to buy my dad a gift.  I indeed wanted the gift to be something my dad could find use in and will bring back memories of me whenever he sees or uses it. My main concern was the usefulness. I thought about multiple options: clothes, shoes, teacups, jewelry, and computers. But the issue was that things like clothes and shoes were not meaningful, and they would wear out one day, and my dad would have to throw them out. But things like jewelry and computers – I couldn’t afford.  There was another problem. My dad never tells anyone what he needs or wants. He cares for others and makes their wishes come true. He would always give things away and expect nothing back. After much thought, I remembered an important memory.

A watch. “Yes, I remember!” I screamed in the subway while trying to think if my dad ever told me about anything on his wish list. My dad once told me he likes Apple watches for their simplicity, innovations, and convenience.   Later I figured out that he couldn’t simply bring himself to buy a watch and spend the money just because he liked it, even though he has two other watches. I mean, it’s not that he couldn’t afford to buy an Apple watch after having two great watches, but he wouldn’t waste the money. Thinking about this changed everything. Now I knew precisely what I wanted to get him. The newest Apple watch available.

I checked to see if I would have enough for the watch in the subway.  I went on the Apple website and looked it up at $639.99. “Damn it, just a little short,” I thought. I wanted to stay longer at the job to make that extra $40, but that would be suspicious, and I wanted this gift to be a big surprise. I had to find other solutions. I went on Google and typed in Apple watch series 7,” hoping to see any possible discounts in other stores. And there it was. Target. At $589.99, I could get the same latest version. “Great, I will still have a little over $100 left,” I said, turning off the phone. The rest of the days on the job passed by quickly. I had to find an opportunity to buy the watch without any suspicion. In my town, the closest Target store is in a mall. Many other stores and things at the mall could become an excuse for me to go there. The problem is that my parents would always go in with me. However, a good chance arose the last week before my dad's birthday. My friends invited me to watch a movie at the mall. There it was a trip to the mall without my parents.

On the evening of the movie, my friends and I played arcade games, had dinner at Buffalo Wild Wings, and watched Black Panther Two, and we ended at around 9:50 pm. I checked my phone and was shocked. Ten minutes until Target closed. I said bye to my friends and ran to the store across the mall. Are they going to sell me a watch only 10 minutes before closing?  I nervously walked into the store, which was almost soulless. After sprinting to the electronics section, I stood in front of the stand with smartwatches. I found an assistant and asked him if I could buy the latest Apple watch. Thankfully he said yes, but then he asked me about the size, which stumped me.  I didn’t know what size to get or if my money would buy a big enough watch.  Luckily, it was just enough to buy the biggest one, and I used my debit card at the counter. After taxes, it appeared that I barely had enough. Mission completed.

On my dad’s birthday, I acted as if it was just another day, and the only difference was I said “Happy birthday” in the morning. However, after dinner, it was my time to shine. I went upstairs into my room and took out the gorgeous long box with the bitten apple. I hid it behind my back.  I said: “Dad, I have a gift for you this year.” His eyes widened with delight, and his face lit up with joy like a thousand twinkling stars. It was a combination of realization, surprise, and happiness. “I didn’t know what to get you at first, but then I remembered you told me you loved Apple watches, so I used my own money and got you this!” I removed the box behind my back and gave it to my dad. I could see tears in his eyes; tears of happiness. He couldn’t say anything besides “Thank you so much, son,” but his expression and happiness were enough for me. Then I told him I remembered his childhood stories and decided to break that chain of not receiving gifts. Now I had tears in my eyes because I realized I had accomplished something.  I was proud of myself. I can guarantee I would never feel something near that if I bought myself a gift. That feeling was priceless.

And there it was. My first gift to my parents. I could barely sleep the whole night as I was thinking about the past, what happened that night, and the future. I knew it meant the world to my dad, but it meant the universe to me. My whole being emanated an infectious sense of joy as if I had unlocked the key to true happiness. Moreover, I felt as if I was independent now, and I could fly away from my parents as a mature bird would fly away from their childhood nest. I hope there is more to come, and one day I will finally buy my dad a Lamborghini!