Holidays just aren’t the same when beloved family members no longer are present. Their absence is felt deeply, and it can be difficult to celebrate.
In rare instances of care and foresight, some people set up surprises, letters or recurrent gifts for their families when they are unable to see family or know their time is coming.
But it’s unclear just what was intended with a batch of Christmas presents that central Florida resident Holly Pomeroy, 29, and her family received this past Christmas.
Pomeroy told Fox News that on Nov. 16, her grandpa passed away. Her grandmother had died in 2015, and it was around 2002 when Pomeroy’s great-grandparents passed.
But this past Christmas, there were wrapped presents from all of them addressed to Pomeroy, her dad and her sister.
It started when Pomeroy’s cousin was going through their grandpa’s house and getting things in order. The presents were found in the attic.
“My cousin has been doing most of the clean-up and going through our grandparents’ house because she is the only one who lives near it and she found them stowed away,” Pomeroy told Newsweek. “I don’t know for sure why they were left or forgotten about.
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“As for the actual gifts, I’m not sure the exact time period, but since one was from my nana who passed in 2015, it’s possible that it was from Christmas of 2014 that we weren’t able to come down for, and then her health started really declining in January of 2015, and my grandpa probably just packed them away and forgot about then because of her death.”
The cousin got the gifts to her, and Pomeroy filmed herself pulling the seven presents out of a box, all neatly wrapped in older-looking wrapping paper and addressed to her, her sister or her father.
“These are probably from when we were kids,” she said in the video that has since gone viral on TikTok.
There also was a card with cash from her great-grandparents.
@hollybrooke92This is wild! Mine say from Nana who passed in 2015. The rugrats wrapping paper makes me think these are way before then even. #grandparents #crazy♬ Santa Claus Is Comin’ to Town – Mariah Carey
“As for the card, a lot of people are suggesting it could be from the ’90s because their grandparents always got fresh bills from the bank to put in their Christmas or birthday cards, and the bills do say 1995,” Pomeroy continued, according to Newsweek. “I don’t know for sure though how bills work or if when you go to a bank you even get bills from the same year.
“We didn’t get to spend a whole lot of Christmases with my great-grandparents though, so could have just been forgotten as well. My dad and sister were in shock but extremely happy this happened to us and we were able to experience one last gift from them.
“My grandparents were the type that every time we came down to their house, they always had something for us to take home.”
@hollybrooke92Reply to @allisonannmiles this is so my grandpas humor though. 2 almost identical gifts but the most amazing thing I could have received from them❤️♬ original sound – Hollybrooke92
The forgotten gifts included a flashlight and massage chair for Pomeroy’s dad, a blue snuggie for her sister and a pink snuggie and pink bathrobe for herself.
Though they may never know why those gifts didn’t make it to them before, they’re all very thankful to have one last Christmas “with” their late loved ones.
“It was definitely emotional opening them and knowing it was the very last thing I would ever receive from my grandparents,” Pomeroy told Fox News.
“[We] just think it is a huge blessing for this to happen to us.”
This article appeared originally on The Western Journal.