โI help out anybody, I donโt care.โ
When Chip Matthews woke up on November 5th, it was anything but an ordinary, average, ho-hum day. As soon as he opened his eyes that morning, he realized he was now a whole whoppinโ 6-years-old!
The outside of his house was decorated with lots of fun balloons, the inside had colorful banners announcing his birthday, and just down the street was a mail lady who held the key to all his happiness โ a pile of boxes with his name on it.
But wait, thereโs more! When mail carrier Tawanna Purter noticed all the packages with Chipโs name on it, she whipped out a special surprise for her favorite little guy on her route.
โCause thatโs how this amazing, kindhearted woman rolls!
Some boys like chasing garbage trucks. Others like chasing fire trucks. But for 6-year-old Chip, his jam is mail trucks! In particular, he has a crush on Tawanna Purterโs mail USPS mail truck.
And thatโs the truck that brings him all the Amazon goodies.
โSo, when he came running out the door, I said: โYou must be Chip!โ And he was like, yes. I said, โTodayโs your birthday?โ And he started smiling,โ Tawanna said.
โSo, I said, โLet me see if I can find you something for your birthday.โ
Thatโs when she reached down into her pocket and surprised the lucky little guy with the one gift that everyone hopes to get on their birthday โ money!
Out came a dollar bill out four quarters, which according to mom Bonnie, is the most money Chip has ever had in his life.
It may seem like a one-off, something that the mail carrier did in the heat of the moment, but this is actually the sort of thing she does on a regular basis.
โI help out anybody, I donโt care.โ
She loves to surprise people with gas or grocery money, and her pay-it-forward mentality was born from a time when she herself was struggling to make ends meet and had very little.
The 42-year-old letter carrier went on to say that:
โEven though โฆ no one knows how theyโre going to make it from here to the next day, there are still people that โฆ take their time and still want to show kindness.โ
Mom said that Chip was โecstaticโ about the unexpected gift! And who can blame him?
โHe came running back in the house just waving his money, so excited that he got some birthday money from somewhere extra special and unexpected.โ
Bonnie also noted that the kind gesture gave her hope after she lost her job as a school counselor. Just like the rest of the country, this Opelika, Alabama family has spent long months in isolation.
โOur family, like many families, has endured a lot โฆ has had some pretty significant challenges. And so, gestures like that, I think those are the things, those are the memories that weโre hoping to take away from these nine months.โ
Even though the money was only a couple of bucks, in Bonnieโs eyes the giftโs value was worth a whole lot more.
The two families have kept in touch since that day. Tawanna has been struggling to find someone to take care of her 8-year-old son Joshua while sheโs on the job, so Bonnie has opened up her home to the boy. He attends virtual classes while Tawanna delivers the mail.
โIt was an awesome moment,โ Bonnie said. โThere was a reason we were brought together.โ
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