My grandfather was Lloyd Andrew Dey.
It is him that I share my middle name with. It is also him that taught me the spirit of Christmas.
Growing up my family didn’t always have a lot of extra money.
As a kid I lived in a room with my dad. He would sleep on the floor and I would have the bed. The places we lived were never ours they were spare rooms of friends, or family.
Christmas wasn’t easy. But what made it possible was my grandfather. He made sure, I never went without a Christmas.
My dad didn’t have to tell me that as a kid he could have taken all the credit. Though he didn’t, he wanted me to know and be thankful.
I was and never forgot.
In 2009, I started working at toy drives collecting toys for kids that are less fortunate. It was fun, and at the end of the day you felt good that you did a good thing.
One year, I was working a toy drive and I got a phone call that my grandfather passed away.
It was that moment that changed something forever. The man that gave me Christmas was gone, and I decided to it was now my goal to try and fill his shoes.
Without having children of my own. I decided from that moment on I would now give kids a Christmas like he did for me.
Every Christmas season since I’ve given money, toys and bikes to toy drives in my hometown and different parts of the country. So that on Christmas morning a child has something to open.
I’ve also had the pleasure to continue working toy drives. Collecting toys and even giving toys away. The sight of someone walking up to you saying “all I have is five dollars to give”, or seeing a parent mouth the words. “Thank you” as their kid picks out a bike. It’s those moments that mean so much. It’s in those people faces that I see people like my grandfather who helped, or my dad who mouthed the works thank you as we received help.
As long as I can, I’m going to help. Last year it was flying to Las Vegas to donate scooters. This year, it’s going back to Tampa, Florida and do the exact same. As well as continuing my wife and I’s yearly donation to Help Of Southern Nevada and a new tradition of donating to kids in the Rio Grande Valley where she is from.
For me this time of year is special. Its making a difference, it’s helping that kid that I once was, and it’s keeping my grandfathers Christmas spirit alive.
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