Elderly Man Who's Spent Last 20 Christmases Alone Moved to Tears by Kindness of Strangers
Christmas is a wonderful time for people with close friends and family — but for many others, it’s merely a reminder of what they don’t have.
Plenty of elderly people face the holidays with little cheer, as they are no longer surrounded by the people they once knew and loved, making the holidays not only cheerless but downright painful.
Terrence of Oldham, Greater Manchester, who was featured this year on “BBC Breakfast,” is one of those people.
He’s 78. He lost his mother 20 years ago, and as he has no other close family he’s spent those last 20 Christmases alone. He doesn’t even own a Christmas tree. His favorite Christmas song is “Silent Night.”
“Since my mother passed 20 years ago, I’ve had every Christmas on my own,” he told BBC as reported by CBS. “And you do feel it very much. You’d make yourself a sandwich, and you’d just, well, watch TV.”
He’s not the only one either, and while some attention has been brought to the plight of many elderly citizens who spend their Christmases alone, Terrence’s story is helping bring even more awareness to the issue.
His story broke hearts when it first aired, and many were compelled to reach out to him and bring him some Christmas spirit — for which he was incredibly grateful.
In a first wave of kindness, “BBC Breakfast” host Dan Walker and some college students showed up at Terrence’s front door. A few students came inside, toting along a small Christmas tree just for Terrence, and he was at a loss for words.
Then they ushered him to the front door, where he was met by a caroling group who sang “Silent Night.” He had to wipe away tears as he listened to his favorite carol.
The next wave of kindness came when “BBC Breakfast” co-host Naga Munchetty ballroom danced with him and then he was presented with presents that people had sent in for him.
Terrence was astounded.
He expressed his shock and desire to thank everyone who’d thought of him in footage released by BBC.
“I think I get very emotional, you know. When you see so much kindness that’s been given you know we always say there’s this and there’s that but what we forget, you know, is there’s an awful lot of extremely kind people and I found that out, believe you me, I’ve found that out,” he said.
“I can’t thank you all enough, I really can’t, from the bottom of my heart.”
Thankfully, there are programs out there that make it their mission to be available for those who are often overlooked during the holidays — but we can each do our part, too, checking in on our single or older neighbors and friends and including them in our Christmas celebrations.
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