A mysterious stranger

Tonight, I heard a long and loud car horn blast outside of my house. It was really, really loud. It seemed unusual to me, so I raced to the window to look outside. There was no car to be seen anywhere on my street. But there was a blue recycling bag and a Pampers box, with an envelope attached to it, addressed to J. I was alone with the baby, so I thought I would wait for H to get home before I opened the door to see what mysterious items were left behind. I thought it was probably okay, but I was a bit suspicious.

H brought in the bag and the box. We opened the card, and discovered that a mysterious stranger had left J a Christmas present. An incredible, unbelievable Christmas present. A large Pampers box stuffed full of clothes, many of which are new. So many clothes that the lid to the box would not close completely and it had to be duct taped shut. Several pairs of shoes. A soft, velour hooded towel. Bibs. Foot rattles. There were so many clothes, that a large overflow gift bag was included, also bursting with clothes. An additional gift contained various toys.

The card was simply signed "A Special Friend". We do not know who bestowed this tremendous kindness on our family (although we can take an educated guess). We will probably never know for sure. We don't recognize the writing. We don't know who to thank.

We decided to wrap all the presents back up and let J have fun opening them with us on Christmas morning. It is all so beautiful.

Earlier this week, I was packing up J's clothes that no longer fit. I realized that we would soon need to buy J some new clothes in a larger size. He is still very small, but he has outgrown a great deal. We were going to have to cut some corners in order to properly outfit our little lad. I had not mentioned this to anyone; we would get by, as we always have. J is a baby, after all; he doesn't need much.

But he has much. He has good people in his life. Family and friends who love him. Generous and kind people who surround him. People who will watch over him and make sure that he is cared for, and that he always feels loved. I am grateful for these people. I am grateful for you.

Whoever you are, thank you. My eyes are welling up with tears of gratitude for you and your tremendous generosity. Thank you for giving us this beautiful gift for our son. Thank you for reminding me that there are people like you in this world. I feel so very fortunate to have you in my life. Someone like you, who would leave this beautiful and generous gift on our porch, anonymously. Who would do something so incredible for another, without looking for anything in return. You are the best sort of person. You are the kind of person I strive to be.

Thank you. So much.