Port Jervis, New York:
On August 2nd 2011 our youngest son Nick was in a diving accident and broke his neck. He is paralyzed from the chest down. At 21 yrs. old he is having a very difficult time, as well as the rest of my family. He was released from rehab right before Thanksgiving and needless to say, it was very hard to be thankful for anything. My husband and I were not looking forward to Christmas this year. We always loved the holiday. But this year there wasn’t much to celebrate. We took one day at a time and tried to focus on keeping him strong and believing in our faith to get us through. At times though, it was very difficult. This was hard on my husband and I to see our son suffering like this.
Then a couple of weeks before Christmas we got a knock at the door. My husband opened the door to see two Santas standing our porch. They handed him a gift bag which he almost dropped because it was so heavy. I heard the commotion from the other room and ran to the door only to see a group of about eight Santas standing on the sidewalk in front of the house. I went outside to see who they were and they wished my family a Merry Christmas and left as fast as they showed up. My husband and I stood there in shock trying to figure out what just happened. We opened the bag to find a jar full of coins, bills and gift cards with a book titled The Christmas Jar.
I can’t describe the overwhelming feeling of love, peace and joy we both felt that night. It reinforced our faith in God. There are so many good, caring and kind people in this world. We brought the jar in to show Nick and he smiled. I know he felt so happy knowing there were people out there that really cared. Christmas was good in our house this year. I know next year we will have lots more to be thankful for. The jar is in our room . We’ve explained to my family what happened to us that night and how it made us feel. We will be doing the same next year for someone else, just as the secret Santas did for us that night. God Bless you all and Thanks from the bottom of our hearts.