My Red Umbrella

By Robert Bright

Copyright 1959

“Maybe I shouldn’t have bothered to bring my red umbrella.  But you never can tell.”

So begins a little girl’s walk on a lovely, sunny day.  It’s a good thing she brought her umbrella, because before too long, it starts to rain.  Along the way, she is joined by a little dog who also wants to stay dry.  Next come two kittens, then three chickens, and then four little rabbits.  Somehow, that little red umbrella grows bigger each time someone wants to join her beneath it.  Just big enough, in fact to keep them all safe and dry.  By the time the rain ends, a lamb, two goats, three little pigs, four little foxes, and even a big wet bear have joined the group under the red umbrella.  

That’s the way it is, isn’t it?  We start out thinking we have just enough for ourselves. But once we open up and invite more people in, we find that somehow we have enough to share.