When Randy Heiss was hiking in Patagonia, Arizona, he spotted something rather unusual — a deflated balloon with a note attached to it. Patagonia is less than 30 miles across the border from Nogales, Mexico. Which is exactly where the little girl, eight-year-old Dayami, the note’s author, lives.
It was a simple note, her message to Santa, with all of her wishes included. So he took photos of the note, which was written in Spanish. The little girl was asking for paints, clothes, and a few toys.
And for Heiss, it woke up his Christmas spirit, NBC News reports:
“It really touched my heart to find it and I said, ‘Well how in the heck am I going to figure out how to make contact with this little girl and make her wishes come true?” he said.
So he contacted radio station XENY, in Nogales, and the staff helped him find little Dayami, The Hill reports”
“They called the radio station because that’s what they put on Facebook and they said to either call or to message them on Facebook somebody who knew the mom tagged them on Facebook so they could see the post, said XENY reporter Cesar Barron.
When the Heiss’s and Dayami’s family were connected, the Arizona couple delivered the presents. In person. The little girl and her even littler sister Ximena were thrilled. The presents included a doll house and art supplies.
But for Heiss and his wife, the joyous meeting was tinged with bittersweet memories:
“We lost our son nine years ago,” he said. “So we don’t have grandchildren in our future and so really getting to share Christmas with kids was something that was missing in our lives.”
Dayami’s mom and dad told the Heiss’s that the little girl had been writing notes to Santa and sending them to Santa over the years. But this was the first time anyone ever responded to any of her messages, The Washington Post reports:
“Their eyes were wide open with wonder,” Heiss said about the girls’ reactions. “Like, ‘oh my gosh, this really did work.'”
But the couple didn’t want to spoil the Santa story for the girls because they still believed the story, their parents said. So Heiss and his wife told them they were “ayudantes de Santa” (Santa’s helpers.)
“It was a beautiful, beautiful experience,” Heiss said, pausing for a moment. “Quite healing for us.”
Now both families have formed an unbreakable bond and it demonstrates that real love has no borders.
“We now have friends for life,” Heiss added. “And, for a day, that border fence, with its concertina wire melted away.”
The video below may just be the most heartwarming story you’ll see all day.
Featured image by Cesar Barron N via Facebook
