Gift from a stranger

St. Petersburg, Florida -- As he watches his son open presents on Christmas morning, Danny Stephen's eyes have an empty twinkle.

"It's a tent!" Jude, 5, says as he tears into one of the gifts.

The corners of Stephen's lips perk up. But despite his smile, his face is devoid of emotion.

"It's empty without Michelle this year," he said, the words fought past the knot in his throat.

One Sunday morning in August, his wife Michelle didn't feel like getting up for church. Stephen and Jude went without her. By the time they got home that afternoon, she'd had a stroke.

After five surgeries and three weeks in the hospital, Michelle had another stroke. She died in September.

"I went into a very serious depression," Stephen explained.

He found himself unable to focus on work as his construction job, and after a while, he and his employer agreed to part ways.

In the last few months, the bills and stress have piled up.

In the middle of December, Stephen needed money for groceries. As a last resort, he went to the bank to cash out his son's $50 savings bond.

"I felt guilty. The savings bond had my son's name on it," he recalled.

Still, he handed it over to his teller at the Wachovia branch on the 1,100 block of Pasadena Avenue in St. Petersburg.

"She ended up [cashing out the bond and] giving us 27 dollars. And I said, 'It will at least buy us a little bit of groceries, like milk and bread.' I said it just as conversation."

A few minutes later, Stephen got a phone call. His teller and a few others at the bank had put $50 into his account.

Stephen was shocked.

"I think that's just the most joyous thing this Christmas, is knowing that there's so much good out there in the world," he choked through tears.

The teller also told Stephen to bring Jude to the bank the following Monday.

"We walked in there, and there was two bags filled with gifts and two big cardboard boxes filled with canned goods," Stephen recalled.

The gifts for Jude went under the Christmas tree. And on Christmas morning, Jude got to open each one.

For him, each gift included a toy. And for Stephen, each gift included an unexpected blessing from someone he didn't even know.

"I've realized for the first time in 43 years the true meaning of Christmas," he said.

"My goal next year is to pay it forward. That's something for me to work towards."

10 Connects Reporter Janie Porter has compiled more stories of unexpected blessings, submitted by 10 Connects viewers. To tell your story of holiday good will, click on the comments section at the bottom of this story.