The gift that ‘blew my heart’

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Red Deer Advocate
The gift that ‘blew my heart’
 
By Lana Michelin - Red Deer Advocate

Published: December 03, 2010 6:32 AM

As a small girl and her young mom walked away from his Christmas tree lot in Red Deer, operator Martin Deveault was left with an envelope containing $50 — and the true spirit of the season.

Tears welled up in Deveault’s eyes as he read a letter that was handed to him on Monday by the little girl of three or four years. She was “cute as a little sprite,” and had received a bit of prompting by her mom.

The note that came with the cash and a Christmas card stated: “Please use this money to put towards as many Christmas trees as it will buy for as many deserving families that come your way. As a child, I have known the pain of not having a tree to wake up to at Christmas and don’t ever wish that on anyone. Everyone should experience the joy of that simplest of symbols of this season of miracles.”

“We have little to give but much to be thankful for, and hope that this small amount of money would bring a few smiles, ignite the Christmas spirit and let it spread like a candle’s glow. Merry Christmas and enjoy the miracles of the season.”

Deveault was so touched by the gesture, “I started crying like an old fool. . . . It blew my heart.” He said he tried to catch up to the young mother and daughter, but they were gone.

As it happened, Deveault had just found out that he has a lot to be thankful for this Christmas. Some 10 minutes before the mother and child walked into his Christmas tree lot at the Capri Centre, Deveault said he’d received a phone call from his native Nova Scotia.

He learned his daughter had successfully received a kidney transplant from an anonymous donor.

His grandson, who was not deemed a good match for his mother had, in turn, donated one of his kidneys to a kidney bank. It was then transplanted into another person who needed a functioning kidney.

“It struck me, my daughter getting a kidney and my grandson giving up one of his kidneys . . . I’m having a really, really good holiday,” said Deveault, who remains filled with gratitude.

“You can just feel that the spirit is there — you can just feel it.”

As for the anonymous young mother and her daughter, Deveault said it’s good to know there are good people out there who think of others. “It was probably $50 that they couldn’t afford and they gave me that.”

He said he intends to donate a Christmas tree to a needy family — and give them a $50 food voucher as well.

The Christmas tree lot operator said he tends to give away a few trees every year to families that he senses could not afford to buy them.

lmichelin@reddeeradvocate.com

http://www.albertalocalnews.com/reddeeradvocate/news/local/The_gift_that_blew_my_heart_111260434.html