There’s something magical about sending a message into the unknown, especially for kids.
We can all remember studying the shores of our local beach, looking for washed-up messages in a bottle, or even sending out messages ourselves.
So when one little girl sent a message in a balloon from Kansas, she must have excitedly hoped for a response.
As adults, we know that the likelihood of people discovering a message in a balloon is pretty slim.
The balloon would have to come down in an urbanized area, for starters. It’d somehow have to miss trees, telephone wires and chimneys and land perfectly on the ground. Somebody would then have to pick up the balloon – probably to throw it away – to then discover that it contained a message.
Still, 4-year-old Luna Gonzalez was hopeful that the right person would discover her balloon.
Both she and her twin sister, Gianella, released their balloons together over Christmas, and each balloon contained 5 holiday wishes.
Mom Leticia Gonzalez told GMA that the balloon idea had given her girls a chance to experience “something different” after the write-off of 2020, adding:
“It was just so cold and windy. I didn’t expect them to go that far.”
By “that far”, Leticia means 650 miles – which is how far Luna’s holiday wishes balloon traveled.
Over Christmas, the Gonzales family had been traveling in Mexico, helping those who were less fortunate.
It was a few weeks after they’d returned home that she found out someone had shared a picture of Luna’s balloon on Facebook.
On the balloon, Luna had written her 5 holiday wishes: a “Frozen” doll, a Spiderman ball, candy, a My Little Pony – and, of course, a puppy.
We all know a little girl who wants a puppy, but it’s not always feasible for some families to grant this wish.
But Alvin Bamburg of Shreveport, Louisiana, who discovered the balloon while hunting in the Grand Crane, was determined to grant this 4-year-old’s wishes – every last one of them.
After getting help from strangers on Facebook to find Luna and Gianella’s mother, Alvin was able to ship the girls almost every present on their list.
His act of kindness was completely unanticipated, according to Leticia:
“We did not expect it. It was a big surprise to us.”
It looked as if things couldn’t get any better for the twin girls… but then it did.
Not that Luna and Gianella knew it, but a few weeks later, Alvin and his wife were on the road, driving for several hours to reach the girls’ home with the best surprise of them all: a puppy named Max.
Of course, you should never buy somebody a puppy as a gift without being 100% certain that they’re ready for the responsibility of owning a dog.
Just like with having children, there are financial costs to think of, not to mention demands for your attention.
It’s likely that Alvin had a deep discussion with the twins’ mom before he bought them a puppy – and thank goodness she liked the idea, because Luna and Gianella immediately fell in love with tiny Max.
As for Alvin, he refuses to believe he’s done anything exceptional, simply saying:
“If you can make one person smile… trust me, not only will it help them, it will make you feel so much better.”
Aww, talk about heartwarming!
You can watch the full story in the video below.
Please SHARE this with your friends and family.
