The beautiful stories of special Christmas photos and messages have been coming thick and fast over the past fortnight, and we have found possibly the sweetest one of all today.
A young man has shared his story after discovering a precious treasure trove of Christmas love letters exchanged between his father and his late mother.
Almost 25 years ago, Tomas’ parents Helen and Mark celebrated their first Christmas as a married couple, and by some stroke of fate they chose and exchanged the exact same romantic Christmas card.
Amazed by the coincidence, the couple took it as a sign and decided to exchange the same Christmas card with a new message each year, as part of their own special tradition.
The tradition stretched on for two decades, with the messages documenting the births of their three children. One of the messages from Mark to Helen read: “It’s Christmas 1996 and the three bears are now 4! Now you have 3 boys and this Christmas belongs to us. The Daddy Bear.”
Things took a sad turn when Helen was diagnosed with cancer in 2008, and Mark’s message to her reflects their concern but also their hope for the future: “Christmas 2008. A ‘C’ for cancer kind of year, but with the promise of bigger and better [things] to come. As always, I am your dear Bear.”
Tragically, Helen passed away in October of this year. It was son Tomas who discovered the beautiful cards, and as you can imagine, it has brought mixed feelings to the surface.
Sharing his story with the Independent Journal, Tomas said: “The cards get packed away with the Christmas decorations every year and live in the attic. It was overwhelmingly sad and beautiful at the same time.”
