The holidays can be difficult for those who have lost a loved one, as traditions that once brought joy can now bring sadness. For one grieving Maritime woman, an undelivered gift from the past has renewed her Christmas spirit.
Like many families in the Maritimes, Christmas at the Turpel house focused on the children. That is until Elsie Turpel read a letter to Santa from her three-year-old daughter.
“It says, Dear Santa, will you please bring something for Mom and Dad, because they never get anything,” says Elsie.
Elsie and Charlie Turpel’s four children always had gifts to open and, after that letter to Santa, Charlie always made sure to have something special under the tree for Elsie - more often than not, it was a snow globe or a Santa Claus.
“I told him I wanted to do the tree in bears, so that’s when I got stuff bears, globe bears, and more bears,” recalls Elsie.
Christmas was a big deal to Charlie. He often shopped early for his children’s gifts, purchasing them by February or March.
Four years ago, Charlie died suddenly.
“The year he passed away, mom brought me over the Christmas presents he had bought in January,” says Anna Isenor, Charlie and Elsie’s daughter.
This year, one of Charlie’s early purchases came as a special Christmas surprise.
Anna followed in her father’s footsteps, working at Dartmouth Metals. One of the men she works with recently handed her a snow globe.
“(He said) ‘this was supposed to be for your mother, from your father the year he passed away…can you give it to your mother for me,’” says Anna.
Charlie had bought the snow globe and had it delivered to work to make sure it would be a surprise.
The globe had been tucked away, thought to be too painful for Elsie on her first Christmas without Charlie, and then forgotten about until now.
“She (Anna) said she had a delivery there from Dad and I said, ‘what did you say?’ Nothing was sinking in,” says Elsie.
While the globe is like so many others Elsie has received from Charlie over the years, this one has extra special meaning.
“It was really rough this year,” says Elsie. “I thought the other ones were rough, but this one, when she called me it was like him giving me a shove, saying ‘you have to do this.’”
Anna says, since the gift from her late husband, Elsie’s spirit has been renewed.
“Now she’s all excited and got up at four o’clock in the morning to put up the Christmas tree,” says Anna.
The family believes Charlie knew this was the year the snow globe needed to make its way to Elsie.
“I just had to wait four years,” says Elsie.
With files from CTV Atlantic's Kelly Linehan
