I’ve been sitting at my desk, not really sure how to write a post that can do this story justice, but I feel like I owe it to my gifter to give it a shot… I hope he doesn’t mind, but I think /u/spasticpoodle deserves some serious recognition for being an amazing human being.

It all started after I received a message from my 100th Exchange match, asking me a bunch of random questions… How many miles a year do you run? Flip Flops vs. High Heels? Pubs vs. Clubs? What do you wish you were doing right now? I never had a gifter flat out ask me questions before. Although I am partial to stalking a giftee, I began to feel that this was a very thoughtful way to go about the process.

The next day, I got a second round of questions… Do you think Leonardo DiCaprio should have gotten an Oscar? What’s the story behind your name? What do you have planned for the weekend? When I got to this last question, I struggled. In the prior weeks, I had an extremely personal decision to make that all culminated to that Saturday. It affected many facets of my life and I knew whatever I chose to do, I’d feel guilty. I’ve kept this a secret from my family and all but a handful of friends, but found myself divulging my secret to a stranger on the internet. After sending it, I was afraid that I may have offended him.

He immediately wrote back, “You get no judgment from me…if anyone gives you shit, kick them in the balls, and tell 'em it's a gift from a Spastic Poodle.”

Huge wave of relief. Through a back-and-forth, he confessed that something that was bothering him as well. With both of us in frustrating situations, it put my problems into perspective. It was also nice to know that there was someone else I could commiserate with.

The next day, a cat plushie showed up to my office with the message, “This isn’t your real gift. It is just an emergency gift to make your week a bit better.” He went on to explain that he chose this cat because it looked like one of my cats. I was blown away by the kindness and thoughtfulness that went into sending my “emergency” gift. It was something so small, but it brightened up my entire week.

Thursday, a monstrous box shows up. What could it possibly be? I open it up… A CAT TREE. And not just any ol’ cat tree. This thing was huge, something that I could never spring for on my own!! I couldn’t believe how insanely generous it was. In a crazy cat lady move, I canceled my plans for the night and went home to put it together. My cats LOVED it. But that wasn’t all…

Today, I got 2 more packages. /u/spasticpoodle’s wife decided she wanted to send me something too! I guess it makes sense that someone so incredible would marry someone equally as wonderful. I open the package to find the most adorable cat night light (spitting image of one of my own). And, in the spirit of the 100 Exchange, 100 cat stickers and a book “100 Cats Who Changed Civilization.” I think it’s fair to say, they recognized my love for cats.

It’s kind of hard to put into words what all of this meant to me. I mean, really, it’s difficult to describe. And I hate being corny, I’m really not an emotional person…. but I keep getting teary thinking about this random couple who I just happened to be matched with. They could have not cared at all, or just told me they were sorry I was going through something, but they really did give a shit. And they used this gift exchange to show me that people care. We ended up exchanging information, and they told me if I was ever in their area that they would love to show me around. It’s insane how open and loving people can be to someone they’ve never met before.

I guess I just wanted to tell this story not only to thank /u/spasticpoodle and his wife, but also to show that little things matter more than you know.

Thanks for reading.