Wow.

I'd venture to say that, while most of us agree it would be awesome to get RadioShack as a Santa and half their store delivered to your home, most of us also would rather have a thoughtful, heartfelt gift from a stranger that makes us see that the world is not such a bad place.

That's the best thing about this gift exchange. None of us have any pre-conceived notions about the other person. Not their opinions or political affiliations. Black or white, man or woman, straight or gay. None of that matters. Just a stranger making the day of another stranger.

Here's how my day got made.

On my Likes/Dislikes page, I had mentioned that I have a 5yr old that is starting to (finally) take a liking to the cooler things in life like super-heroes and video games. I was worried for a small bit of time when he got into My Little Pony, but it turned out to be not-so-bad. Overall, I'd say I have a pretty cool midget on my hands and as a single parent, that's the most rewarding feeling.

A bit over a year ago, our home and everything with it burned down. We've bounced back from that just fine, just another curve ball from life. Recently, my son discovered Pokemon and started to take an interest. He also became interested in games. Being old school, I didn't want to start him on Xbox or PlayStation, but rather NES. He did very well with Mario. Then, it hit me: I need to dig out the N64! You see, I own a Pokemon game and he can pl....oh wait...yeah...the fire. Oops! So, we venture around town to the used game stores to find a used N64 and Pokemon Stadium. Nope. Nada. Zilch. Oh well, I can get one online maybe, but we will worry about it another day. Then we headed home.

I can't make this part up.

On my doorstep was a box, from New York. My Santa had delivered.

Ho boy did he.

The box came from a young guy from New York named Themi. Don't know anything else about him other than that. But Themi is a freaking mind-reader. He probably has a side job as a psychic. Santa studied me and noticed that I had mentioned my coming-of-age midget and his knack for cool things. Santa decided to pack up something he had used in his youth that brought him countless hours of happiness and pass it along to someone else. He packed up his N64 collection. And what was at the center of that collection?

Pokemon Stadium and the GB reader with Pokemon Silver in it.

I can't make this up.

What was even better than the eerie gift of games was the hand-written note. Santa stated from the very beginning that if this gift is ill-received, I could sell it for $50. Well, I can promise you, sir, the only way this setup is leaving my possession is if my house burns again. He noted that this captures his childhood essence and perhaps that could be used for my purposes. Well, let's just say my kid hasn't put down the controller in three days.

I'd say Santa hit this one on the head.

Thank you. Thank you. Thank you.