Yes, my husband and I have been quietly sweating our finances, keeping even but barely, waiting for the new year when he gets a raise and when I find a better employment. We did not advertise our monetary stretching, but someone must have noticed as we began to just order water when out with friends. “We already ate.” becoming our mantra.
Two insurance premiums and necessary car repairs later we are sliding downhill much faster than ever before. A final demand letter for old medical bills is an even bigger scare. We work the demand out and keep going. We really cannot hide the stress and fear from our closest friends anymore.
Yesterday morning, my husband was working from home. He took a break to check the mail and taped to the door was a blank envelope. At first he thought we got dinged again by our local neighborhood nazi for not getting the trash can back from the street before nightfall. He opened the envelope and 3 hundred dollar bills stared back at him. It took a few minutes for him to grasp this was intended for us. Will it fix things? Well no, but it gives us precious time to be able to get back on the road to being fixed. Time we did not have before. A light, though dim at the end of the tunnel.
We wracked our brains to try and figure out who would and could do this. We are lucky in the numbers of friends that would do something like this for us. But the ones that could are few and far between.
We finally decided that it was given anonymously with the intention of staying anonymous and we will respect that. But be assured that if there is a time that any friend of ours is in need and we have the means, they will find a taped envelope on their door as well.
So, thank you, my dear anonymous friend. You not only restored sanity in our lives, but faith in humanity.
Wow! What a wonderful thing to have happen - what great friends you have! That story helps to restore my faith in humanity when I find it is getting pretty low.
Don’t worry about that. They will have more hugs then they know what to do with.
To have people like that in one’s life is a blessing too large to describe.
I am thankful beyond mere words at the gift and at their presence in my life and I felt like I had to say something somewhere - even if they never see it.
I would have a hard time accepting a gift like that without thanking the responsible party. I might very casually try to make a mention of how appreciated it was around anyone you think might have done it; maybe saying something like, “Well, things were really tight for us lately, but we got an unexpected windfall that came at exactly the right time and made a huge difference for us.” and just leave it at that.
That was a wonderful thing to do for someone! I loved reading about it. It makes me think that there is hope for humanity yet! You’ve been blessed with some fantastic friends. Put the good back out there anytime you can. It’s great for the Karma and good for the soul!!
Last Christmas I sent three gift cards to neighbors of mine who are struggling financially. I enclosed a Christmas card signed by “Santa” as I didn’t want them to be embarrassed or feel beholden to me in any way. I plan to do the same again this year, and expand it to include another family who I know is struggling.
Giving to people is what Christmas is all about. I didn’t get to see my friends open their gift but just imagining their reaction just made my day.
Congratulations on your anonymous gift. One day when you’re back on your feet, perhaps you can do the same for someone else.
We are quietly letting our friends know how much we appreciate them. All of them because even if it was just one person or many, it does not stop the fact that we appreciate and love all of our friends.
It did bring to mind several years ago I did the same thing for a friend of mine, although not anonymously. We were in a better situation and she was about to lose her car. We just did it because we did not want to see a friend of ours struggle. We do what we can for our friends when we can.
4 years ago I was between jobs - mostly because I was trying to get a business to run. Many of my friends came to me to offer me money. I remember one party where no less than 4 people offered me money. The ones that made me laugh were the husband and wife who both offered me money with the implication that their partners did not know.
How can a man be thought poor when he is so rich in friends?
What an awesome thing for someone to do! Kind efforts such as that bring tears to my eyes, and help to take a bit of the sting out of this otherwise cold world.
