Christmas is my favorite time of year

I have a story to tell that is a Christmas blessing for our family. Recently my husband and I bought our first home. We have saved and lived in low rent homes for the last 5 years so that we could buy a home. We used all our savings and took the plunge into home ownership. We are thrilled.

Today, I got a call from our lawyer letting me know I needed to sign something in the next hour to be able to get our possession date on time. So, I rushed to his office downtown and parked in a 2-hour park zone. There is quite a bit of construction around his office, so I had to walk a block to find a parking terminal to pay for parking. I had my 10-month son with me and we walked the block and proceeded to pay when the terminal advised me that it was a no parking zone. I was confused because there was a car that I parked behind. However, I turned around and watched a parking authority vehicle pull out from behind my vehicle and saw a ticket already on my windshield. Not only that but as I was walking back to the vehicle to move it a tow truck pulled up and started to hook up my vehicle! I started running at that point, but the lights I had to pass were not changing fast enough! And running with a 10 month old is not easy!

I finally got there and told the tow truck guy that this was my vehicle and I went to pay and turned around and had a ticket and he was there already! He said that he can let the vehicle go but that because he already had started I had to pay $95 and the $40 ticket. I started bawling! Between buying a new house and Christmas only a week away, there isn’t much money to throw around. We are definitely not without, but we do not just have $135 to pay at the drop of a hat.

I was shaking. I couldn’t believe this was happening to me.  It was freezing and I heard someone start talking from across the street. He said, “Come on man, she has a baby.” I was grateful for the support but this tow guy was not budging. This man came from across the street and asked how much it was and proceeded to pull the amount out of his wallet. He turned to me and said, “Merry Christmas. Now get that baby out of this cold weather.” I was shocked at his generosity. Not many people would do that. My pride took over and I couldn’t let him pay this for me. The woman he was with smiled and told me it was okay. I cried some more and hugged him and thanked him feeling like I needed to do more. He will surely be blessed for his generosity.

I am so grateful for this experience. Recently I have had a lot of bad encounters with people and have made me feel like I couldn’t trust anyone and made me nervous for the world my son would grow up in. I have felt a lot of anger and misery from people I cross paths with, but this man gave me hope. There are wonderful people out there who love and care.

Thank you. I hope your Christmas is as wonderful as I know mine will be.