A Christmas Mystery

On Saturday James and I received a true mystery Christmas gift. We have no idea who it came from. James was on his way home from work when I heard a loud knock on my front door. I went to see who it was, but when I looked out the peephole there was no one there. I thought maybe the person had left, or they had left something on the door. So, I opened the door, and there was a present sitting on the floor. It looked like a bottle of some sort. It was wrapped in a pretty white and gold hand towel and tied with a beautiful gold ribbon. When I picked it up it was heavy. I thought, "Oh, how nice! Someone has given us a bottle of juice or sparkling cider. That's sweet." I looked down the hallway, but didn't see anyone at all. So, I took the gift in and went to place it under the tree, but I thought that if it was juice of some kind perhaps it would need to be refrigerated. I shook the bottle a little bit and heard a weird noise. It didn't sound like juice at all. It sounded like change in a jar. I immediately opened the towel, but found that the bottle was wrapped in Christmas paper. Then I ran into our study to see if I could see anyone leaving from the parking lot. Perhaps, I thought, I would be able to catch a glimpse of this person who bestowed us with such a heavy gift. As I looked out my window my phone started to ring. It said "Private Call". Now, normally I don't answer those types of calls, but someone with that same listing called ten minutes earlier while I was on the phone with James and they said they had the wrong number. I thought that maybe this would be the same person. This is how the second conversation went. I picked up my phone and said:

Me: "Hello?"
Mystery person: "Did you get something outside your front door?"
Me: "Yes, I did. (giggle) Thank you so much."
Mystery person: "Merry Christmas!"
Me: "Wait! Who is this?"
Mystery person: (laughs) "Just Merry Christmas."
Me: (sheepishly) "Thank you so..."

But before I could finish the person hung up. I thought it was a little strange, so I went back to the present. I was kind of smiling thinking about how fun this was, that someone gave us a mystery gift. It was sweet...and then I opened the present.

Yes, my friends. That jar is full of change. Quarters, nickels, and dimes only, but mostly quarters. My face fell, my jaw hit the floor and I think I experienced a bit of vertigo. I thought there had to be at least fifty dollars in there. I immediately called James and told him of the events that had transpired. He thought it was really cool and was giggling. He and I wracked our brains trying to find out who could have possibly left such a gift at our front door. I told him I thought there was fifty dollars, but then said that maybe I was wrong, maybe there was about thirty. I called my mom to ask her if she knew anything about it and she said she didn't. When James got home he saw the jar and said that he thought there was probably closer to eighty dollars in it. After dinner we counted it. Let's play a game. How much do you think is in the jar?

James and I are extremely grateful for this gift. Recently I have had to resign from my job, we still have medical expenses, and money is kind of tight right now. The newest challenge has been James' car. His brakes have gone out and now we have had to spend even more money on getting the part we need to fix them. I spent all day Saturday at my parents house trying to figure out what was wrong with James' car. It was a long and tough day. Then we received this gift. It made me want to cry.

I don't know who gave this to us, or if they even read this blog, but I had to post something about it. So, to you, Mystery Person, thank you! We appreciate your kindness, your generosity, and your creativeness. Thank you so much for giving us this Christmas Mystery. Merry Christmas!!