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Suzana, a single mother, saved throughout the year to provide her sons with a wonderful Christmas. But she transformed sadness into a memorable lesson in karma and a mother\u2019s unwavering love when their nasty landlord stole their favorite Christmas tree, the center of their holiday.\n

Christmas is everything for me and my boys, Ethan and Jake. I saved up for months to buy the perfect tree this year, and seeing their excitement made it all worth it. But that joy didn\u2019t last long.\n

On Christmas Eve, our landlord, Mr. Bryant, showed up \u201creminding\u201d me about rent, even though it wasn\u2019t late. As he stood in the yard, his eyes locked on our tree.\n

\u201cThat tree has to go,\u201d he barked. \u201cIt\u2019s a fire hazard.\u201d\n
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For illustrative purposes only.\n
\u201cWhat? It\u2019s perfectly safe,\u201d I protested.\n
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\u201cThe truck will pick it up in an hour,\u201d he snapped, not giving me a chance to argue further.\n
And just like that, he had our Christmas tree hauled away. My kids cried themselves to sleep that night, heartbroken. I felt powerless\u2026 until the next morning.\n
While driving past Mr. Bryant\u2019s house, I nearly slammed on the brakes. There, in his yard, was MY TREE, complete with my kids\u2019 handmade ornaments. He\u2019d added a tacky golden star and a sign that read, \u201cMerry Christmas from the Bryants!\u201d\n
My hands shook as I called Jessie, my best friend.\n
\u201cHe didn\u2019t just steal a tree,\u201d I choked out. \u201cHe stole my kids\u2019 Christmas! Ethan\u2019s snowflake, Jake\u2019s rocket ship\u2026 they\u2019re all there, Jess. He\u2019s displaying my children\u2019s memories like they\u2019re his own!\u201d\n
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For illustrative purposes only.\n
\u201cThat entitled piece of \u2014\u201d Jessie hissed. \u201cGirl, I haven\u2019t heard you this upset since Jonathan stole your lunch money in fifth grade.\u201d\n
\n
\u201cAt least Jonathan only took my money. This is different. Mr. Bryant\u2026 he STOLE our Christmas.\u201d\n
\u201cAnd what did we do to Jonathan?\u201d\n
\u201cWe filled his locker with shaving cream and glitter.\u201d I smiled at the memory. \u201cIt took him weeks to get it all out of his jacket.\u201d\n
\u201cExactly. So what\u2019s the plan? Because you do have a plan. I hear it in your voice.\u201d\n
\u201cMaybe. How do you feel about a little midnight adventure?\u201d\n
\u201cGirl, I\u2019ve been waiting all year to wear my black yoga pants for crime. What time should I come over?\u201d\n
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For illustrative purposes only.\n
At midnight, dressed in black hoodies and armed with more supplies than a craft store, we crept across Mr. Bryant\u2019s perfectly manicured lawn.\n
\u201cThese gloves make me feel like a cat burglar,\u201d Jessie whispered, carefully removing each ornament. \u201cThough I doubt most burglars use unicorn print.\u201d\n
\u201cMore like Santa\u2019s revenge squad!\u201d I gathered my boys\u2019 handmade decorations in a bag, my heart aching as I recognized each one. \u201cLook, he even kept the candy cane Jake made from pipe cleaners.\u201d\n
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\n\n
\u201cWhat a jerk.\u201d Jessie frowned. \u201cHey, what\u2019s that noise?\u201d\n
We froze when a car passed, then burst into nervous giggles when it continued down the street.\n
\u201cRemind me why we\u2019re not just taking the tree and some of your boys\u2019 ornaments?\u201d Jessie asked, wrestling with a particularly stubborn ornament.\n
\u201cBecause then we\u2019d be thieves, just like him. We\u2019re going to do something much better.\u201d\n
We worked methodically, replacing Mr. Bryant\u2019s gaudy additions with something special. Foot-wide letters in silver duct tape wound around the tree, flaunting the message: \u201cPROPERTY OF SUZANA, ETHAN & JAKE!\u201d\n
\u201cWait!\u201d Jessie pulled out a can of glitter spray. \u201cLet\u2019s make it festive. Red or silver?\u201d\n
\u201cBoth. It is Christmas, after all.\u201d\n
The following morning, I parked down the street with two cups of coffee and a clear view of Mr. Bryant\u2019s house. At 8:15 a.m., his front door opened.\n
The string of curses that followed would have made a sailor blush.\n
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\n
\n
\u201cEverything okay, Mr. Bryant?\u201d Mrs. Adams, his next-door neighbor, called out while walking her poodle. She\u2019d lived there for 30 years and took no nonsense from anyone, especially not Mr. Bryant.\n
\u201cSomeone vandalized my tree!\u201d He gestured wildly at the glittering message. \u201cThis is destruction of private property!\u201d\n
Mrs. Adams adjusted her glasses, squinting at the tree. \u201cIs that little Jake\u2019s rocket ship ornament? And Ethan\u2019s paper snowflake?\u201d\n
\u201cWhat? No! This is my tree!\u201d\n
\u201cThen why does it say \u2018Property of Suzana, Ethan & Jake\u2019 in giant sparkling letters? Wait a minute. Did you steal their tree?\u201d\n
\u201cI\u2026 I\u2026 this is outrageous! It was a fire hazard. I just moved it here.\u201d\n
\u201cWhat\u2019s outrageous is stealing a single mother\u2019s Christmas tree on Christmas Eve.\u201d Mrs. Adams\u2019s voice could have frozen fire. \u201cWhat would your mother, bless her soul, think, Mr. Bryant?\u201d\n
By noon, photos of Mr. Bryant and the tree were circulating online. Someone had captioned: \u201cWhen the Grinch Meets Karma\u201d and \u201cWhy Stealing Someone\u2019s Christmas is a BAD Idea!\u201d\n
The doorbell rang at sunset. Mr. Bryant stood there, our tree dragging behind him, his face the color of a ripe tomato.\n
\n
\u201cHere\u2019s your tree,\u201d he muttered, refusing to meet my eyes. Glitter dusted his expensive shoes.\n
\u201cThank you, Mr. Bryant. The boys will be so happy.\u201d\n
He turned to leave but stopped. \u201cThe rent\u2019s still due on the first.\u201d\n
\u201cOf course. And Mr. Bryant? You might want to hose down your lawn. I hear glitter can last through spring.\u201d\n
An hour later, another knock made us surprised. Mrs. Adams stood there with five other neighbors, their arms full of ornaments, cookies, and an incredibly stunning Christmas tree.\n
\u201cFor inside the house,\u201d she explained, hugging me tight. \u201cNo child should cry on Christmas. And Mr. Bryant should know better. His own mother was a single mom, back in the day.\u201d\n
The neighbors helped us to set up both trees while Ethan and Jake bounced around, their earlier sadness forgotten as they hung new ornaments alongside their rescued treasures.\n
\u201cMom!\u201d Jake called out, carefully placing his rocket ship on a branch. \u201cLook! Now we have two wonderful trees!\u201d\n
\u201cThis really is the best Christmas ever!\u201d Ethan added, his smile brighter than any tree light.\n
And our home was filled with love, laughter, and holiday cheer. As for Mr. Bryant? He hasn\u2019t bothered us since. Karma really is the gift that keeps on giving.\n
\n\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Suzana, a single mother, saved throughout the year to provide her sons with a wonderful Christmas. But she transformed sadness into a memorable lesson in karma and a mother\u2019s unwavering love when their nasty landlord stole their favorite Christmas tree, the center of their holiday. Christmas is everything for me and my boys, Ethan and …\n","protected":false},"author":31,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1439],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-93322","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-stories"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93322","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/31"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=93322"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93322\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":93327,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/93322\/revisions\/93327"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=93322"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=93322"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/echowoven.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=93322"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}