Can you imagine what a struggle everyday life would be if you had been diagnosed with an unspecified auto-immune disorder that left you in constant physical pain, so bad that some days you can’t get out of bed?
Then, just a few months before the Christmas season, tragedy strikes and your 15-year-old teenage son dies unexpectedly.
That was the life of a young mother named Rachel, every day she was dealing with both physical and emotional pain.
Rachel and her husband, Scott, still have other children and they wanted to make the Christmas season as happy and festive as possible for them.
Unfortunately, despite putting on a brave face every day and going about their usual business, the family was struggling.
One of the main things they were dealing with, along with the regular stresses of Christmas, was to purchase their son, Brandon’s, headstone.
The family wanted to pay tribute to their oldest child and the beautiful life he led before his passing, but headstones cost money, a lot of it.
In order to still be able to afford decent gifts for the rest of their children, the parents had to sacrifice on the size and ornateness of Brandon’s headstone.
The Idaho Secret Santa didn’t want the family to have to decide how much they could spend on the stone, so he covered it for them.
Along with $5,000 in Fred Meyer gift cards, the anonymous man who has vowed to give away up to a million dollars this Christmas season, decided he would pay for Brandon’s headstone.
Rachel had been to the funeral home the day before in order to pay for the headstone, but the funeral home was in on the surprise and so they only pretended to charge her card.
In actual fact, Rachel and Scott only had to decide on which headstone they wanted for their son, the rest was already paid for.
When, on the day of the Secret Santa surprise, East Idaho News reporter Nate Eaton and his team delivered the presents to Rachel, her 7-year-old son made an appearance as well.
The boy was very happy to help his mother open the gift and when they pulled out the gift cards totaling $5,000 the boys face lit up.
He then turned his attention to the letter from their Secret Santa and him and his mom read the note together.
Both of their faces betrayed the emotion they felt at receiving the gift.
While the young boy might not have known exactly what it was that had been taken care of, he could tell that his mother was relieved and grateful for the gift.
Rachel could hardly speak other than to say “Thank you”.
She thanked not only Nate and his team for delivering the gifts to them, but also the mysterious Idaho Secret Santa.
It is always important to remember, even though you may not be able to give out thousands of dollars this time of year, any bit of generosity and understanding can make someone’s holiday season just a little brighter.
While this family may never get to celebrate Christmas the same ever again, they can at least have peace in their minds that there are still good people left in this world.
Check out the tremendous gift-giving surprise in the video below.
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