My 82-year-old mother just told me what happened to her on Christmas Eve... [View all]

[FourScore]

Over the last three weeks, my mother has complained over the phone to me about how she just couldn't get in the mood for Christmas this year. She didn't want it, she didn't care for it, she just wanted it to be over. We talked about it, with me reassuring her it would come -- but it never did.

Then, on Christmas Eve, she went out to do some last minute shopping. Since she did not want to worry about her purse, she decided to carry all of her cards in the pockets of her jeans. In one front pocket, she put her driver's license and medical ID card. Then she took a one hundred dollar bill, wrapped it neatly around two credit cards and stuck them in her other front pocket. While shopping at the first stop, she decided to buy something for $2.01. That's when she noticed her one hundred dollar bill was missing. She retraced her steps; she dug in her pants over and over, but she just couldn't find it. She was baffled. The cards were still there, only the $100.00 was gone. Frustrated and bewildered (how in the world did that happen? It was neatly wrapped around the cards!!!), she went ahead with her shopping.

Next, she headed to Walmart for some kitchen staples -- flour, sugar, etc. She said the lines were very, very long. While standing there, thinking about what could've happened to her money and feeling the financial loss, she noticed a tiny, elderly woman in a shopper's wheelchair at the neighboring checkout. The checkout attendant was taking things OUT of the shopping bags and removing them from the purchase. My mother noticed that it was all food to make a Christmas dinner --the same kind of things that my mother was purchasing. Only it wasn't just a couple of items -- it was the whole dinner. When the cashier's total finally reached a sum which the woman could afford, there was very little left. My mother leaned over and asked the attendant why she was removing the items. "Because she doesn't have enough money to pay for them." My mother looked at the lady, bent over in her chair, and said, "Please ring them back up, I'd like to pay this woman's bill." My mother said her decision held up both lines as the items were re-tallied. No one said a word of complaint. They all watched as the items were given to the woman. The woman beamed a toothless grin at my mother and thanked her. My Mother smiled back and said, "I hope you have a very Merry Christmas." In that moment, my mother was awash in the Christmas spirit. She felt the tears well up in her eyes and she felt so grateful.

That evening, while getting undressed, the hundred dollars fell out of my mother's pocket.