A lonely woman named Emma began receiving gifts from a stranger every day.
When Emma Rodriguez’s husband died seven years ago, she was devastated. Now she had to take care of herself, as she had no one to look after her.
One day, while Emma was sitting in her room watching television, the doorbell rang. She wasn’t expecting any visitors, so she decided to go and see who it was.
When she opened the door, she saw a delivery man in his 40s with several boxes. He was wearing a mask, so she couldn’t see his face clearly.
“Hello. I’m not expecting any packages from anyone. Can I ask who it’s from?“ Emma asked.
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but these packages were sent anonymously. They’re for you,” he said, placing the boxes by the door.
“How strange… thank you,” Emma replied before closing the door.
When the delivery man left, Emma quickly opened the boxes because she was curious to know what was inside. In the first box, there were small appliances such as a new toaster oven, a sandwich maker and a coffee maker.
“Who would give me all this?” she wondered. She proceeded to open the second box, and inside were beautiful clothes as well as food.
Every day, Emma began to receive more packages. It was always the same delivery man who delivered them, so she decided to meet him.
“What’s your name?“ she asked him.
“My name is Tomás Hernández,” the delivery man smiled. “Mrs. Rodríguez, the sender asked us to give you this. I’ll wait until you finish answering,” he added, handing her an envelope.
Curious, Emma opened it and read it quickly. It said, “Mrs. Rodríguez, please let me know what you need and I will grant it to you.”
“Oh, I’m dying to know who’s been giving me all this! Now that person even wants me to make requests!“ she exclaimed.
“I’m sure the sender loves you very much, even if you don’t know who it is,” smiled the delivery man.
Emma agreed and wrote down what she needed. She didn’t want the person to spend a lot on her, so she only wrote down what was necessary.
Since that brief and sweet encounter, Emma started making quick sandwiches for Tomás, the delivery man. For a whole month, he went to her house, delivering packages of clothes, food, books and other novelty items.
At a certain point, Emma began to get used to Tomás’ company. They spent time together eating snacks and he helped her do some of the housework that she couldn’t do herself.
However, one day, Tomás didn’t come. Suddenly worried, Emma decided to go to the local post office to find him.
“Hello, can you call Tomás Hernández? I have some doughnuts I wanted to give him,“ she asked the young woman at the reception desk. The young woman looked confused.
“I’m sorry, ma’am. There’s no one here named Tomás Hernández who works here,” she replied.
“Oh… but he’s been delivering my packages every day. That’s strange,” said Emma, suddenly disappointed. She didn’t know where to find Tomás, and that bothered her.
She walked back home with many thoughts in her head. Who could this kind Samaritan be? Had she gone to the wrong post office? Was Tomás pretending to be a delivery man?
When he reached his porch, he was surprised to see a small box in front of the door. Inside, he saw a key and a note that read:
“I found out the truth just a month ago, when I decided to hire a private investigator to find out about my origins. I know you blame yourself and regret what you did. However, I want you to know that I don’t blame you and that I know you only had my best interests at heart.
You and your husband couldn’t afford to feed me, so you gave me up for adoption. I ended up with a wealthy family who treated me as if I were their own, but I always felt like something was missing. I realized it was you, Mom.
I miss you in my life, and I would love to spend more time with you. If you’re willing, I recently bought a new house. I had a key made for you in case you wanted to move in with me. Please let me take care of you. Love, your delivery man, Tomás.”
Emma was trembling when she finished reading the message. She had always longed to see her son before she died, and she couldn’t believe that he was the one who would find her. And that son turned out to be Tomás! She couldn’t help crying, all the guilt of her past caught up with her once again.
What Tomás had discovered about her past was true. Emma and José were on the verge of bankruptcy when they discovered she was pregnant. They knew they wouldn’t be able to raise Tomás in a good environment, so they gave him up for adoption.
They left their son in an orphanage when he was only a few months old. Along with her belongings, Emma left a letter explaining why they couldn’t raise him. The letter was anonymous, but after convincing the directors of the orphanage to reveal the contents of their adoption papers, Tomás found Emma’s name.
Emma wanted to see Tomás immediately. She was about to leave the house to meet him, but there was a knock at the door. When she opened it, she saw Tomás.
“Hello, Mom,” Tomás said softly.
Emma started to cry. “I can’t believe it. My son,“ she began to sob. She hugged him and refused to let him go. ‘I’m so sorry, darling. I’m really sorry. I hope you can forgive me,’ Emma continued to cry.
“No need to apologize, Mom. I’m here because I want to spend more time with you. It’s not too late to start over. We can still be a family,” said Tomás.
That night, Tomás and Emma spent time together packing her belongings in boxes. A truck was waiting for them outside, where they loaded their things so they could be moved to Tomás’s house.
There, Emma was surprised to see Tomás’s wife and children. They were as excited as Tomás to welcome her into their home, and from then on, Emma never had to be alone again.
What can we learn from this story?
- The past does not have to define the future: Emma thought she would never spend time with her son again until he decided to search for the truths of his life that led him to find his biological mother. They ended up moving in together and starting over.
- Forgiveness is good: Instead of holding a grudge against his biological parents, Tomás decided to forgive them. He even decided to introduce himself to his mother to start a relationship with her.