The heartwarming story of a Christmas miracle is playing out in New Brunswick after a treasured family heirloom found its way back home after nearly 40 years.
“We have been looking for it for 37 years and I can’t believe we found it,” said Krista Richard of Moncton.
Let’s go back to the beginning of this Christmas story, when Krista was just a wee little elf driving around with her pappy, Blair Babineau of Moncton, who worked at then Vail’s drycleaners, delivering dry cleaning for the holidays
“He used to have a Santa sleigh with all the reindeers on top of his truck and he made it all himself,” said Richard, who drove around with her grandfather dressed in his Santa suit handing out candy canes while the reindeer danced on the hood, being powered by the truck.
She said she hoped, along with his Santa suit that is now hers, that the sleigh might become hers one day. “And then one day he said he sold it,” Richard said, to a co-worker who coincidentally shares her last name who had been eyeballing it for years.
“Oh I would give my eye teeth for it,” said Dorice Richard, who bought the sleigh back in 1986 for $250.
Dorice said she scooped up that sleigh as fast as a reindeer could fly and that’s where this story went awry.
After her mother and grandparents passed, Richard said her family lost track of the sleigh and she never knew who actually bought it.
“We gave up hope. Every Christmas we would say, ‘Whatever happened to Pappy’s sled?'” she said.
But this past week it found its way home, thanks to a note that stayed taped to the bottom of the sleigh for nearly 40 years.
“She kept mom’s name, phone number and address on that sled,” said Richard, who never knew that Dorice had promised that if she ever sold the sleigh, it would go back to the family.
“I think he sold it to someone that I think he knew would take care of it,” said Richard.
With her parents and grandparents now gone and the address and phone number on the note no longer valid, Dorice’s daughter managed to track down Krista on Facebook and 37 years later, when Krista when to pick up the sleight, “I was in tears because it brought back all of these memories from my childhood.”
“It is finally back home,” said Dorice, who kept her promise after all these years.
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