Alright. It’s no surprise that Christmas is around the corner. Everyone is getting ready for the holiday, people freaking out about part invites, and gift giving of all things. This is always the time where either the best or worst of people can come out.
For the Marine Reserves I do a bunch of Toys for Tots events. Whether if its at the distribution center or standing out in the cold in my dress blues by a drop box. I’ve done them all. The look on a child’s face when they get told that they get a Christmas gift if beyond what anyone has ever given me.
Just a few hours ago I witnessed something that a lot of people only get a chance to see on the news or on YouTube.
One of my fellow officers at work called me over on the radio. He asked if I could hang out for a second at his post while he takes care of getting a taxi cab for a mother. I told him that it was no problem. So I started my way towards where he was at.
As soon as I got there he looks up at me and says “Oh hey be right back” and takes off for just a few minutes. He comes back to the mother and her child and hands them a few 20’s in his hand and a gift card to a local restaurant. She almost fell to the floor crying and thanked him probably a million times. Her little one, looked around 2 years old, came right up to him and tugged on his pants. My buddy then knelt down to his level and her son gave him a big hug and said “Thank you for Christmas”.
Now my buddy if a big dude. Used to work for a different police agency for 20 plus years before working at ours. Despite his size, he really is pretty much a giant teddy bear. The most kind and caring officer anyone will ever run into. He always did this stuff out on the road before coming to us. I just never witnessed anything like that.
The story only gets better. He comes back to the post I was watching for him with a few tears in his eyes. He looks at me and says “You know.. Some people have it so much worse than I do that I can’t bring myself to try and understand it. I just help them any way I can.”
I asked him what the whole story behind that was. He told me that the mother was trying to catch a cab back to her home after her son was seen in the Emergency Department. She realized she didn’t have any money on her for a cab ride home and the ride probably only would cost a little over 10 dollars. They started talking a bit and he soon realized that her Christmas will not be a good one at all. Her home was broken into and all of her holiday savings went towards buying her son a gift which was stolen. My buddy felt that he needed to go above and beyond what was called for and made sure that their Christmas wasn’t totally ruined.
So looking back on the scene I could see how much it meant to that lady that a few dollar bills and a gift card showed that there are some outstanding people in the world. Funny thing was that he did not want any recognition for what he did. He just simply told her have a Happy Christmas and gave her and her son a hug.
I’m not saying go out and start throwing dollar bills at everyone you see, but hopefully this holiday people realize that they don’t need to go all out and big for happiness. Maybe even doing something for someone else can be a gift in itself.
I don’t know… All I know is that my sweetheart is getting something really nice from me. I put a crap ton of thought into it and made a lot of girls jealous. It’s the usual “My boyfriend never did anything like that for me” talk.
I must be doing something right 🙂
Above and Below Average 