Louisiana man fulfills Kansas twins' Christmas list after finding balloon message

[Michael Rielly]

 Louisiana man fulfills Kansas twins' Christmas list after finding balloon message

KMBC.com
April 20, 2021

EXCERPT:

Most of the time when someone sends a message in a bottle or a letter to Santa, they're not really expecting the universe to reply.

This is a story about a set of twins from a small town in Kansas who not only got an answer returned, but made a new friend for life -- a wonderful stranger who found a letter to Santa Claus from two little girls living two states away.

It all began with a moment just before Christmas in the town of Liberal, Kansas, when 4-year-old twin sisters wrote letters to Santa, tied them to red balloons, and released them from their home. Their mother knew better. It was like a message in a bottle. But, Luna and Gianella Gonzalez were truly hoping it might make it to Santa's workshop at the North Pole.

"It was a windy day," said mom Leticia Gonzalez. "I just thought it was going to get lost, get caught up in the tree." But the message didn't get lost. One of those balloons traveled more than 600 miles in the wrong direction and into the hands of Alvin Bamburg near Shreveport, Louisiana, who decided he's going to be Santa's helper.

"I opened it and it was a Christmas list," he said. "I just had to do something for them." Bamburg said the note melted his heart, so he and his wife posted it to Facebook, where the internet helped them find the mother of the twins. And, with donations from family and friends, he shipped the girls almost every present on their list.

"We did not expect it," Leticia Gonzalez said. "It was a big surprise to us." But there's one present the girls really, really wanted.

And Bamburg just couldn't ship it in the mail -- a new puppy. Bamburg and his wife drove with a new furry friend, Max, for several hours to meet the twins in person for the first time, and with the biggest surprise yet. A new puppy of their very own.

"We are very blessed," Leticia Gonzalez said. She told Bamburg, "Thank you. Thank you for making my girls so happy. You will forever be part of our family."

[SantaFredNY]

Wow. That is a great story. Serendipity.