Like Butter on Hot Gingerbread

My cousin Sharon recently sent me a lovely note that included a photo of my grandfather with her father.  Both were tiny little tykes with slicked back hair, ruffled collars and happy smiles.  Their little sepia-tone faces reflected the sheer joy of childhood.  My grandpa didn't change much over the years.  I could easily recognize Grandpa the man in that little photo of him as a wee one.  Sharon mentioned in her note that she has in her possession an autograph book of my great-grandmother's, who was Grandpa's mother and Sharon's grandmother.  My great-grandmother had written in the book, "May your virtues ever spread like butter on hot gingerbread."   Reading her quote made me think a bit about virtues.  Patience, compassion and loyalty came to mind.  Then, I started to wonder, how well do my virtues "spread"?  Are they kind of thick and congealed or, as Great-grandmother Ella wrote in 1894, do they spread like butter on hot gingerbread?  I shall take her words to heart and aspire for the latter.