Stories

Older teacher comes home on Christmas and notices footprints leading to her open front door – Story of the Day.

Amanda Krieber loves her job as a teacher. It allows her to spend time with children, whom she considers the most valuable part of the world. Her dream of teaching blossomed during her childhood, and her parents did their best to support her along this path.

After graduating from university, Amanda managed to get a job at a school near the town where she grew up. She stayed there for many years, sharing her knowledge with countless children in her classes.

Amanda was very kind and took her work seriously; if one of her students fell behind, she would take the time to help the child so that their grades wouldn’t drop.

Her job as a teacher brought her fulfillment and eventually a husband. The man she married, Tristan Wirzberg, was also a teacher, and they met when they took their students on a museum trip.

He had taken his students to the same museum on the same day by chance, and they immediately connected amid the chaos of their students.

Together, they had a son named Jack, but twenty years later, Tristan died of cancer, leaving Amanda to care for their son alone, who was now in college.

The boy was rarely home, only visiting or calling occasionally to check on her. In fact, he seemed to only remember her existence when he needed money.

That year was no different; Amanda heard from her son only twice all year, and Christmas was approaching. Before the holidays, Amanda’s school participated in a math competition, and it was her responsibility to prepare her best students.

One day, while she was in the middle of a math exercise with her brightest student, Joana, her son called her. “Hello, Mom, can you send me some money?” he asked plaintively.

“Why is that the first thing you say after months of silence?” she asked, annoyed and hurt—unaware that her students were watching and listening.

“What do you mean, Mom? There’s just nothing to talk about,” he replied.

“You seriously think that, Jack?” she said, her voice trembling.

“Mom, can I have the money now or not?” he asked.

“No, you can’t!” she exclaimed sternly.

“Really, Mom? Then I guess I’ll have to come and get it,” he responded coolly.

“You mean you want to steal from me?” she asked.

Amanda had turned away from the class when she answered the call, but the conversation had demanded all her attention, and she had completely forgotten about the students during the argument.

“That’s not what I meant, Mom. Is it stealing if it belongs to my mother?” Jack asked.

“Fine, I’ll give you some money, but only on one condition,” Amanda said.

“Name it, Mom.”

“You must come home and spend Christmas with me,” she said.

“No problem,” he said without hesitation.

“I’ll be expecting you,” she said and hung up.

When she turned around and looked into the faces of her students, it was as if life resumed, and they all began talking and moving again.

“Sorry you had to hear that, kids,” she said and continued the math lesson.

For the rest of the day, Amanda was very happy. She knew her son only wanted the money, but she was excited that he was finally coming over, and she wouldn’t have to spend Christmas alone as usual.

The day before Christmas, she went to the supermarket to buy everything for her son’s favorite dish. She called him as she left the store to ask if he was on his way, but he didn’t answer.

She refused to think negative thoughts and headed to the car. Once inside, she tried again—unsuccessfully.

“He’s probably not coming because he doesn’t need the money anymore,” she thought sadly.

The drive home took 30 minutes due to the snow-covered roads. When Amanda arrived home, she noticed footprints leading to her house. It was strange and puzzled her.

When she reached the door, she found it slightly ajar, so she quickly pulled out her phone and dialed 110 as she opened the door a bit more to peer inside the house.

“This is the police reporting station, what is your emergency?” said a bored voice.

“Hello. I think someone has broken into my house—” Amanda began, as she stepped inside and turned on the light.

“SURPRISE!!” several voices shouted.

The whole house was filled with her students, who shouted “Merry Christmas” as loudly as they could. She saw many of the little ones she was currently teaching, as well as many familiar faces of high school students she had taught in the past.

Amanda was overwhelmed with joy and had tears in her eyes as she saw all the people who had come because of her. “Thank you all, but how did you get into the house?” she asked as she dabbed her tears.

At that moment, the children stepped aside to reveal her son Jack standing in the middle of the room.

“Mom, I’m so sorry for my selfish attitude,” he said—something Amanda never thought she would hear.

“After our last conversation, these kids contacted me to tell me they wanted to surprise you for Christmas, but they needed to get into the house, and I had a key, so they let me in on the plan.”

“Seeing how much the kids care about you, more than I ever did, made me realize how selfish I’ve been. So I decided to join in,” he explained. “Can you forgive me?” he asked, his arms wide open.

“I do, my son,” Amanda said with tears in her eyes as she walked into his arms.

After the hug, Jack gave her the gift he had bought. It was a watch with an engraved message on the back—”For my lovely mother,” it read.

Her students gave her a big box, which contained a dog—something she had always wanted to help her feel less lonely. From then on, Jack changed his attitude towards his mother, and they lived as a happy family.

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