I just walked in the door and Malachai’s coin box was open on the dining room table. It was empty. Hm. Michael then told me that Malachai took all of his pennies to school today to give to Pennies for Cancer.

Please wait a moment while my heart shatters and mends itself and bursts with pride.

This is huge. This isn’t the story of some random seven year old giving his pennies away. This is the story of my seven year old. My seven year old who is obsessed with coins. He stacks them. He counts them. He moves them from one container to another and back again. He finds them in the strangest of places and brings them home to put in his box(es). He finds them in the house and comes running to me to ask if he can have it because he found it. Pennies, nickels, dimes, quarters, American, Canadian, Israeli, you name it he wants it.

My coin loving and hording baby decide to take his pennies in to school today in a zip lock baggie to give to help find a cure for cancer.

I have no idea if he made the connection that his grandma died from cancer. I have no idea if he even realized what an amazing this he was doing, and not just because he took probably over a dollar in pennies in to school in a little bag.

They were *his* pennies. His coins. Can I even stress this enough? What a wonderful little man I am helping to raise.

ETA, from Michael: He had mentioned it to me on Monday when I picked him up from school and I told him that it is a good thing to do if he wants to. It is a form of tzedukah, charity basically. I promptly forgot about it until this morning.

He was trying to shove his coin box into his bag and told me that he wanted to give all of his pennies to Pennies for Cancer. I asked him a few times if he was sure and he said yes. I suggested he put them in a sandwich bag instead of the box. He seemed so happy about doing this that I just helped him right along.

He has helped do some good in this world and he will start his coin collection all over again. I think when he gets up in the morning, he will have some new coins in his box, whatever change I have in my pocket at least.