As an elderly lady approached her seventieth birthday, her three sons, who had moved away years ago to pursue their careers, met to plan a celebration for her.
All of her sons were successful, after their fashion, and each had planned to give a unique gift to their beloved mother.
Phil said, "I think I'll build a nice big mansion for mother, because she's never lived in a really nice house."
Greg said, "Well, mom's never owned a really good car, or done a lot of traveling, so I think I'll buy her a Mercedes-Benz."
Will said, "I've got a most unique gift to give mom. She's always enjoyed studying the Bible. So I'm going to give her a parrot that recite the Bible, verse for verse. It took the deacons at her church 12 years to train this parrot. Now all mom will have to do is cite a scripture and verse and the parrot can quote it for her."
So that is what the three sons gave to their mother at her birthday celebration.
Two weeks passed, and the mother sent each of her sons a letter to thank them for the party.
To Phil she said, "Dear son...I really appreciate the thought but the house you gave to me is just too big. I only live in one room and I still have to work like a dog to keep the rest of it clean."
To Greg she said, "Dearest Greg...I'm really not finding much use for the Mercedes-Benz because I just don't do that much traveling anymore and gas is just too expensive."
To Will she said, "Dear Will...Trust you to come up with the most sensible gift...the chicken was delicious."
