Christmas gifts are a thoughtful gesture that says people have you in their minds during the holidays. While it is always a thrill to receive Christmas presents, it is a different case for this young man. He received a Christmas present that he dreaded to open.
Source: Pixabay
You see, this particular Christmas gift came from the person who had broken his heart. He could not bring himself to open it. Until 47 years later, when a surprising turn of events caused him to finally open the Christmas present from his ex-girlfriend.
High school sweethearts
This story started when high school sweethearts Adrian Pearce and Vicki Allen met during the 1970s. Adrian was 17 years old and Vicki was 15 years old. Both of them were studying in the George S. Henry Secondary School in Toronto, Canada.
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There was no doubt that the two immediately felt a connection. Before they knew it, the two started dating and began to fall head over heels for each other. They were each other’s first love and they became inseparable.
First love
Do you remember your first love? You probably could not spend a day without seeing each other. This was the case with Adrian and Vicki. For a while, the high school sweethearts seem to be on the running for couple of the year.
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However, the honeymoon period did not last long. When news got out that Adrian and Vicki broke up, it was a shock to everyone who knew them. What could have torn these young lovers apart?
The romance dies
It was December 1971 when their love story reached its unexpected end. Adrian and Vicki made plans to spend the Christmas break together with their friends and family. But somehow, the Christmas plans never did push through.
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Shortly before Christmas, Vicki unexpectedly broke up with Adrian. The young man was heartbroken. Although they were young, he was sure that Vicki was the girl for him. He was blindsided and had no idea why Vicki would suddenly want to end the relationship.
A gift from his ex
Before the breakup happened, Vicki already had a Christmas present for Adrian. For some reason, she still decided to give the present to Adrian after the breakup. This move confused Adrian even more. Why would Vicki break up with him and give him a Christmas gift after?
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Adrian thought about the mysterious present. Could it hold some answers as to why they broke up? Maybe that is the reason why Vicki still gave him a gift after the unexpected breakup. Adrian was confused and decided to set the gift aside as he sorted out his feelings.
An angry vow
Days passed and the Christmas present from Vicki remained unopened. After going through a stage of sadness, Adrian’s heartbreak turned into anger. He could not believe that Vicki would dump him out of the blue without a proper reason and just before Christmas. It was a cruel thing to do and he felt furious about it.
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Adrian vowed to never open Vicki’s Christmas present. The strange thing about it though is that he still held on to it. Every Christmas, when the Christmas tree is set up, Adrian would put Vicki’s present under the tree. But as promised, the present remained untouched and unopened.
A Christmas tradition
When it was time to take down the Christmas tree, Adrian would retrieve Vicki’s Christmas present and store it also away. He will then bring it out again the next winter, where he will place it among the Christmas gifts under that year’s Christmas tree. It became a tradition for many years.
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The blue wrapper of Vicki’s Christmas present started to fade over the years. Still, it remained unopened. “I told my family I’m never going to open that present.” Adrian had shared. And maybe, he did his yearly Christmas tradition to prove to everyone that he was serious and true to his word.
The ending was meant to be
Of course, Adrian eventually healed and moved on from his first love. After high school, Adrian met Janet in college. He believed that she was his soulmate and the two did end up together for life. They got married and were able to start a family.
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This is one of the cases that some breakups are just for good. You never really get to know the answers to why they break your heart but once you meet the right person, you just know that it was meant to happen.
The tradition goes on
You can say that Adrian has changed and matured a lot from the time Vicki broke his heart. However, some things never change. He was still doing his Christmas tradition with Vicki’s gift even when he was married now and has a family of his own.
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Every year, Adrian would put the faded blue gift under his family’s Christmas tree. His kids started to notice and wonder why their father would do this every year. Even though the kids were starting to ask questions, Adrian still continued his tradition.
A weird attachment
Eventually, Janet got fed up with Adrian’s strange attachment to Vicki’s gift. This has been going on for 40 years and it was getting weird. It was not that Janet was jealous of Vicki. It’s just that she could not understand Adrian’s attachment to the unopened gift.
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That year, Janet told Adrian not to put Vicki’s old gift under the Christmas tree. Adrian followed his wife but he still did not throw the Christmas present out. Instead, Adrian simply set the gift aside and stored it somewhere safe. Nobody could understand why he would not open it or just throw it away.
An explanation
Vicki’s Christmas present was becoming a constant discussion among Adrian’s family now that Janet has expressed her annoyance towards it. Eventually, Adrian shared the story on his social media account. It was December 23, 2017, when he shared the history of the old, faded, blue gift.
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Adrian shared the story of his teenage romance, the unexpected breakup, and the mysterious Christmas present he got. It was not that he was still in love with Vicki. It’s just that the gift represented a special memory for him.
The viral post
A lot of people were fascinated by the story and the tradition that lasted for more than 40 years. It did not take long for Adrian’s post to go viral. The story was even picked up and featured on several news stations in Canada. It did not take long for people on Facebook to want a reunion between Adrian and Vicki.
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Encouraged by the curiosity and excitement of people who have found his story interesting, Adrian decided to look for Vicki. Perhaps a face-to-face meeting will give him some closure and will finally put an end to Adrian’s Christmas tradition.
The search begins
When news broke out that Adrian wants a reunion, Vicki unexpectedly came forward. But then again, two more women stepped up claiming to be Adrian’s Vicki. The story was so popular that some women probably thought this could be their claim to fame. But who was the real Vicki?
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Adrian faced all three women claiming to be Vicki. He asked each of them some questions that only the real Vicki would know the answers to. None of the women who stepped up knew the answers to his clever questions.
An old note surfaces
Adrian became more determined to find the real Vicki after dealing with multiple imposters. It looked like all the national media attention and his viral post had not reached the real Vicki after all.
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Adrian started to look for clues among his old things. This was when he found a note he made on one of his college notebooks from 1977. Adrian remembered that he wrote down that note when he ran into Vicki’s sister, Stephanie.
Old numbers
Adrian was a student at Humber College at that time and asked Stephanie how Vicki was doing. Stephanie gave Adrian three numbers to reach Vicki, which he jotted down on his notebook. One number was Vicki’s home, the other was at her job, and the last one was the number to Vicki’s and Stephanie’s parents’ house.
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That time, Adrian never got to make a call and catch up with Vicki. Years later, he finds the numbers. Will they still work? Adrian knew that the numbers probably will not work today but he was hopeful. He wasted no time in trying them out. Sadly, the numbers were no longer in use. Adrian had reached another dead-end.
High school sweethearts finally reconnect
But then, an old friend from high school was able to read Adrian’s viral post. As fate would have it, this old friend happened to be Facebook friends with the real Vicki! The viral post was forwarded to Vicki and soon enough, the high school sweethearts were able to get in touch.
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After confirming that this was the real Vicki, Adrian became excited at the thought of seeing each other again. Vicki wasted no time in inviting Adrian and Janet over to visit her. But was it a good idea to have the two ex-lovers meet once more?
A wife’s reaction
Janet was surprisingly supportive about all this – even if she was not the star in this viral love story. She was confident that Adrian was no longer weirdly pining for Vicki as some other people suggested.
Source: Facebook via Adrian Mike Pearce
Like Adrian’s followers, she was also looking forward to Adrian getting the closure he needed. Besides, Vicki was married too and had her own family now. There was no point in being jealous. And maybe, Janet was really getting tired of seeing the old Christmas present.
The reunion
Adrian and Janet traveled to British Columbia to meet up with Vicki. Vicki and her husband happily welcomed them to her home. Adrian brought the gift with him and when Vicki saw it in its faded and unopened condition, she could not believe her eyes. She thought the story was just an exaggeration.
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She could not believe that Adrian kept the Christmas present for over four decades. It was clear that there was no more bitterness or anger between the two former sweethearts. Will Adrian finally open the gift? Surely it is about time. But Adrian had a different plan.
Taking advantage of the attention
Given all the media attention, they decided to take advantage of it and make a Christmas charity event out of the present reveal. He and Vicki would open the gift together and people present in the event can donate for a good cause.
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So, even though followers of their love story were thrilled about the reunion, they still had something to look forward to in a few months. Vicki’s gift was unopened for over four decades. Opening it can wait a little longer.
Another idea hits
The news of the big present reveal was once more featured in news stations. Followers of the story wanted to see for themselves what was behind the faded blue wrapper. There was so much hype about it that Adrian decided to use it also as a chance to work on a book.
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Adrian started writing about the gift and planned to use the present reveal as the book launch too. It was like hitting three birds with one stone: the opening of the Christmas present, raising money for their chosen charity, and launching a book about the whole experience.
A Christmas event for charity
Adrian and Vicki partnered up with the Christmas Bureau of Edmonton for their chosen charity. They wanted to give the donations they would raise to buy Christmas gifts for underprivileged children.
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Now that they have found their good cause, Adrian, Janet, and Vicki worked hard to spread the news about their Christmas event. The more people attending, the more donations they will be able to get.
A hazy memory
The funny thing is that Vicki no longer remembers what the gift was after all these years even if she was the one who bought it. So even she was looking forward to the big reveal. But, Vicki does remember the day she bought the Christmas present. It was actually the day she met Wolf.
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It turned out that Vicki had been crushing on Wolf for a long time. So when Wolf asked if she wanted to hang out that day, she said yes. As the two were spending time together, they shared a forbidden kiss. Vicki panicked and did not know what to do next.
The reason behind the breakup
Vicki remembers feeling very guilty. She did not know whether to tell Adrian the truth. The issue was not that Wolf had kissed her – what bothered her more was the fact that she kissed back! Does this mean that her feelings for Adrian were not that strong and true after all?
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Vicki felt horrible that she cheated on her boyfriend moments after she had bought a Christmas present for him. Vicki admitted that she could not stand the guilt. Because of that, she broke up with Adrian. She ended up dating Wolf after.
The big day
Now that Vicki finally spoke up about the real reason why she had left Adrian after all these years, people became more curious about her Christmas present. Finally, the day for the great reveal has come.
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The room was filled with camera crews, Adrian’s and Vicki’s families, and some audience members. The room was buzzing with excitement as people can’t wait to see what lies beneath the blue faded wrapper.
The big reveal
Adrian’s friends and family had their own speculations on what the gift could be. Janet predicted that her husband would be receiving an old Archie comics book since it was the hottest thing during that time. Adrian himself guessed that it was a wallet.
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When the gift was finally unwrapped, Vicki laughed out of embarrassment. It was a collection of comic strips entitled “Love Is: New Ways to Spot that Certain Feeling.” Vicki could not believe that she had given Adrian a book about love after their breakup.
Thoughtful but insensitive
Vicki acknowledged in front of everyone that it was an insensitive gift. It just shows how careless she was of Adrian’s feelings and just how ignorant a 15-year-old girl can get. As she flipped the pages of the book, she discovered that she had written a message to Adrian inside the book.
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None of the guesses earlier turned out to be right. Vicki thought that a book was predictable. She recalled that Adrian was a big bookworm when they were in high school so it made sense that she bought him a book for Christmas.
Different perspectives
As Vicki spoke to news reporters, later on, it was clear that the two had different viewpoints on their relationship back then. It turned out that Vicki thought their relationship was just an innocent and short fling. After all, they were still very young back then. She had no idea how serious Adrian was about her.
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And although Adrian had seen things way differently and had suffered a horrible heartbreak because of it, Adrian shared that there were no hard feelings anymore. Even after he had heard what Vicki said about their relationship. It looked like he finally got the closure he needed.
A successful turnout
The Christmas event was a success. Adrian knew his story has gone viral but he did not expect a huge turnout during their Christmas event. They were able to raise over $1,300 that day, which he happily handed over to the Christmas Bureau of Edmonton.
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As mentioned earlier, Adrian also used the event to launch a book. People in the audience were able to get signed copies of the first publication. But now that the gift was opened, everyone agreed that the book deserved one more chapter.
The 47-year-old present
Adrian’s book was entitled “The 47 Year Old Present” and it covered his romantic and unique high school romance. Readers would get a closer and more personal view of Adrian’s thoughts on the whole ordeal.
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The book had a surprise as well – Janet and Vicki wrote some chapters for the book! In the book, the two women in Adrian’s life discussed their experience and thoughts about the fact that Adrian had kept the Christmas present for more than four decades.
Rewriting the last chapter
Now that the gift was revealed, Adrian had to update the book’s last chapter so that the big reveal would be included. He also took the chance to rewrite some sections before he finally started printing copies.
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Adrian shared that throughout the writing process, he got inspiration from Johnny Winter’s “Be Careful with a Fool.” According to Adrian, the lyrics of the song perfectly described what he was going through when Vicki dumped him.
A writer in the making
Adrian wanted the book to be at its best so he attended a lot of writing workshops and participated in different literary challenges to make himself a better writer. You can say that he has found a new passion.
Source: Facebook via Adrian Mike Pearce
Adrian was doing all this because he also plans to publish another book. This time, it would be about his life as a cameraman. You see, Adrian was not only a writer – he was a videographer too. And Adrian wanted to share another story about him with the world.
Plans for a documentary
As a cameraman, it only made sense when Adrian wanted to make a documentary about the whole thing too. Aside from interviewing Janet and Vicki, Adrian wanted to interview his children as well in the documentary. After all, they had witnessed how the Christmas present went under the three over the past decades.
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However, his son was against it. According to his son, the whole ordeal was stupid and he still did not understand why his dad kept the gift. Even Vicki herself thought it was strange that Adrian had held on that long to her gift. The documentary seemed to be too much.
An international sensation
But there was no denying the attention the whole story got. People loved the story of high school sweethearts reuniting after 47 years to open together with an old gift. In fact, the story gained international attention.
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The story was not only a hit in Canada – the story went viral worldwide. Over the next weeks, Adrian, Vicki, and Janet were being interviewed by shows not only from Canada but also from the USA and the UK.
True love
Despite all the commotion about Adrian and Vicki, it was no secret who truly holds the key to Adrian’s heart. Adrian and Janet were married for 39 years when the story went viral and that meant that they met just a couple years after Vicki and Adrian broke up. This meant Janet had helped Adrian’s heart to heal and they have been together ever since.
Source: Facebook via Adrian Mike Pearce
This just shows that Adrian and Vicki’s story was meant to end. Adrian’s destiny lies with Janet. So, if ever you are reading this and your heart is broken, learn a lesson from Adrian and trust that someone better is on the way.