We’ve said it time and again, Christmas tends to be a time when you sit down and celebrate with your nearest and dearest.
But for one single mum in the US, this year is looking a little sparse in terms of people to celebrate with after she agreed to let her daughter spend the holidays with her father.
Autumn Aviva-Keshet Mazzitelli and her three-year-old son Jessiah will be spending this Christmas alone which is why she decided to reach out to people in her community.
According to Global, she posted an advertisement on Canada’s Craigslist to see if there was anyone out there who would like to “adopt” them for the occasion.
The ad read: “Have you always wanted a daughter and grandson? Do you have a daughter and/or grandson but they live too far away to return for Christmas this year? Do you miss the pitter patter of little feet and adorably mispronounced words of a three year old boy? Do you need a hand with dishes after sharing Christmas dinner with a (slightly?) eccentric 30 year old single mother?
“If you’ve answered yes to any of the above questions, look no further, you’ve found the perfect solution!… I would love to meet some beautiful humans to share Christmas Eve or Day with, hear some stories, sing and eat and laugh…. and actively choose not to be alone.”
She added: “I’m trying to think of things to tell you about me…. but I think the fact that I am even doing this says a lot about my openness and my love for people and adventure!”
Speaking to Global about her decision to reach out to strangers and the response she has received, Autumn explained: “It’s been non-stop messages of gratitude, love and people’s stories… I expected, maybe, a couple of responses, but instead I have received hundreds of invitations… I was moved to tears again and again. Some of the responses were what you would expect.
“But some of them went a lot deeper. I got stories of people’s families, what Christmas means to them, I got stories of people who just lost their loved ones, I got stories about lonely, old men, who have nobody. Every kind of hurt that you can imagine.”
What a lovely story!
