Hey everyone. Just got home. What a truely amazing night!!!!!
I could not wait until 6:30 for lunch. Every time I walked by him, I wanted to stop, but it was a really busy shift today. I caught up with him about 5:30. I had a little small talk with him first, but all I really wanted to do was blurt it out. I asked him how his shopping went this weekend. He said fine. He got his daughter ( Courtney), now we all know her name, an outfit of clothes and a MP3 player for $19.95. But, he was smiling because he got something for her that was on her list.
I just spilled the beans right there !!! Nobody else was near us, so I explained how this all started after he and I had that conversation Friday evening. I told him the amounts on the gift cards then about the 9, one hundred dollar bills and 18 more in there too..lol...
He just dropped his head and looked over his safety glasses, like what are you talking about !! I said I am totally serious. The items are in my car in the parking lot. I asked him if he could call his neighbor to come over at 6:30 to pick up the gifts. I also had 3 boxes of shoes, coats and pants that Scott Hundley donated, along with the Digital camera. My trunk and front seat were packed. I gave him the envelope with the letter , card, gift cards and cash and asked him to keep them with him. He did.
He started to tear up, and said, " I don't know what to say" I got a page on the intercom, so I told him I would be right back. It's kind of better, as it gave him a couple minutes to absorb what just happened in his family's lives.
I returned in 5 minutes and just looked at me and said thank you sooo much. You don't know how much this has helped us. It's been so hard since she died ( fiance and Courtney's mom). He looked like an air pump filled his lungs as the weight was just lifted off his chest. He wanted me to tell ALL of you that you've made a difference in his and Courtney's lives and that he will never forget it. Then, he just kept saying how much he appreciated everything. Many times.
I walked away after several moments of speaking with him. 6:30 came. His neighbor showed up and we loaded the van up with the goodies. Man, it was freezing out...lol..
Throughout the rest of the shift, I glanced over Terry's way many times when he was not aware I was looking. As he was operating his machine, the smile never left his face. At one time when I passed him, he said, "I'm going shopping again on Wednesday" !! I gave him an approving nod because I probably could not have talked at that time without skipping a few breaths.
I said later to him that this is a Christmas that he can just take a break and live in the moment with his little girl. He agreed...
I still think he needs someone to pinch him. He just can't believe people that don't know him could do something like this. Especially from here to California within 48 hours. I don't think he can comprehend it right now. It will sink in though.
His daughter has an older computer, he said, but no internet. It should work fine for the Ipod and camera.
I told him nobody else knew about this at work, so it was our secret. I'm sure we'll always share a smile with each other in passing.
Kudos to everyone here. You all made a deep impact on someone's life today. And, on anothers for Christmas morning. It's surely made an impact on me.
Thank you so much again. Another $210.00 is in my paypal account from donations today. I'll get that to him as well. He does not, and has never, had a drivers license. He said he could never afford a car so never went for his license.
Thanks again all, and Happy Holidays from us to you and yours !!!!
J.R., Denice and the kids.
EDIT : I just wanted to add here that I wrote a one page letter and put in in the card, explainng the amount of people throughout the US and even Canada that donated to this and the different car enthusiast web board members, as well as I did tell him tonight. I was trying to type this message fast to get it posted, but left that very important thing out...DUH !!!!
I could not wait until 6:30 for lunch. Every time I walked by him, I wanted to stop, but it was a really busy shift today. I caught up with him about 5:30. I had a little small talk with him first, but all I really wanted to do was blurt it out. I asked him how his shopping went this weekend. He said fine. He got his daughter ( Courtney), now we all know her name, an outfit of clothes and a MP3 player for $19.95. But, he was smiling because he got something for her that was on her list.
I just spilled the beans right there !!! Nobody else was near us, so I explained how this all started after he and I had that conversation Friday evening. I told him the amounts on the gift cards then about the 9, one hundred dollar bills and 18 more in there too..lol...
He just dropped his head and looked over his safety glasses, like what are you talking about !! I said I am totally serious. The items are in my car in the parking lot. I asked him if he could call his neighbor to come over at 6:30 to pick up the gifts. I also had 3 boxes of shoes, coats and pants that Scott Hundley donated, along with the Digital camera. My trunk and front seat were packed. I gave him the envelope with the letter , card, gift cards and cash and asked him to keep them with him. He did.
He started to tear up, and said, " I don't know what to say" I got a page on the intercom, so I told him I would be right back. It's kind of better, as it gave him a couple minutes to absorb what just happened in his family's lives.
I returned in 5 minutes and just looked at me and said thank you sooo much. You don't know how much this has helped us. It's been so hard since she died ( fiance and Courtney's mom). He looked like an air pump filled his lungs as the weight was just lifted off his chest. He wanted me to tell ALL of you that you've made a difference in his and Courtney's lives and that he will never forget it. Then, he just kept saying how much he appreciated everything. Many times.
I walked away after several moments of speaking with him. 6:30 came. His neighbor showed up and we loaded the van up with the goodies. Man, it was freezing out...lol..
Throughout the rest of the shift, I glanced over Terry's way many times when he was not aware I was looking. As he was operating his machine, the smile never left his face. At one time when I passed him, he said, "I'm going shopping again on Wednesday" !! I gave him an approving nod because I probably could not have talked at that time without skipping a few breaths.
I said later to him that this is a Christmas that he can just take a break and live in the moment with his little girl. He agreed...
I still think he needs someone to pinch him. He just can't believe people that don't know him could do something like this. Especially from here to California within 48 hours. I don't think he can comprehend it right now. It will sink in though.
His daughter has an older computer, he said, but no internet. It should work fine for the Ipod and camera.
I told him nobody else knew about this at work, so it was our secret. I'm sure we'll always share a smile with each other in passing.
Kudos to everyone here. You all made a deep impact on someone's life today. And, on anothers for Christmas morning. It's surely made an impact on me.
Thank you so much again. Another $210.00 is in my paypal account from donations today. I'll get that to him as well. He does not, and has never, had a drivers license. He said he could never afford a car so never went for his license.
Thanks again all, and Happy Holidays from us to you and yours !!!!
J.R., Denice and the kids.
EDIT : I just wanted to add here that I wrote a one page letter and put in in the card, explainng the amount of people throughout the US and even Canada that donated to this and the different car enthusiast web board members, as well as I did tell him tonight. I was trying to type this message fast to get it posted, but left that very important thing out...DUH !!!!
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