Sandra Elliot taught at Summerville Charter School in Nashville, Tennessee, where she worked as a teacher. She was very smart and had a Ph.D. But when she and her husband James couldn’t have kids, she took a job that was way above what her education would have qualified her for so she could be close to the kids.
Sandra was kind and gentle, so all of her students loved her just as much as she loved them. She was always trying to help them and cared about what they did when they weren’t at school. Who knew that her curiosity would lead her to find something she didn’t expect?
During her lunch break, Sandra walked by her classroom and saw Robin Hollister, a 12-year-old student, sitting quietly in the corner and staring out the window. His lunchbox was right in front of him, but he hadn’t even opened it yet, and he looked confused.
Why does he not eat? Robin is always the one who is most excited about the lunch break. Does he not feel good today?” she thought as she got ready to talk to him. But just then, Mrs. Anderson, the head of the school, called her, and she had to leave.
Sandra planned to ask Robin why he didn’t eat his lunch the day before before lunch the next day, but when she got to class, he was nowhere to be found. She looked out the window and saw Robin walk away carrying his lunch in a plastic bag.
Sandra ran out of the classroom and quietly followed Robin. She found the boy digging through the trash, picking up scraps of food and putting them in a bag with force.
“Oh, no!” she said in shock, covering her mouth. “Why does he act that way?”
Robin looked up and ran away quickly.
Sandra wanted to follow the boy and ask him why he was doing this, but his shift didn’t end for a few more classes. So, the next day, she decided to talk to Robin. But when it was time for lunch the next day, Robin couldn’t be found anywhere…
She looked out the window but didn’t see him, and when she ran behind the school to the trash can, he wasn’t there either. She was disappointed, so she kept walking past the trash can. Suddenly, she saw Robin crossing the street with the same bag he had used to carry the leftovers.
“I’ll find out every day where that boy goes. I’m sure he’s been hiding something the whole time!”.
Sandra texted the principal to say she couldn’t go to school because she was sick, and then she took a taxi to follow the boy.
Christmas was not too far away. Sandra knew that if she asked for time off for anything other than being sick, the principal would say no because there was a lot of work to do for the school Christmas party. So, even though she didn’t want to, the woman had no choice but to lie.
Sitting in the taxi, she asked the driver to go slowly so Robin wouldn’t notice her. She could see that the boy was happy as he walked down the street with some leftover food, but she didn’t know why.
Robin suddenly went down a narrow alley that Sandra’s cab couldn’t get down. So she got out of the car and followed him until he stopped in front of an old, run-down house.
Sandra hid in an alley close to the house and watched as Robin ran away quickly after leaving his bag and lunchbox on the doorstep. She decided to come up behind him and talk to him. But when the door to the old house opened, a boy and a girl came out. The girl looked like she was at least as old as Robin, but the boy looked like he was no more than five.
Sandra walked toward the house because she was curious about who they were. As she got closer, she saw a woman come out. She didn’t look good. Her hair was a mess, and she had a stern look on her face. As the kids turned to look at the woman, Sandra could see that their smiles were becoming less bright.
“How many times have I told you that you can’t leave the house without my permission? You kids are just as useless as your dad! “He never listened to me, and now it’s you two, you brats!” she yelled at the kids, holding their ears and twisting them so hard that the kids started to cry in pain.
“Mom! Please, please don’t do that!” The little girl yelled. “It stings.”
“Yes, Mother!” “We’re sorry,” said the boy.
When Sandra saw the woman insulting the kids, she couldn’t take it any longer and went up to her. But as she got closer to the woman, she could smell a strong scent of alcohol.
How are you as a mother? She said this with a serious face. “I know they’re your kids and I shouldn’t get in the way, but can’t you see they’re hurting?”
“Who are you to get in the way? THEY ARE MY CHILDREN. “I DO WHAT I WANT!” replied the woman.
Suddenly, the kids ripped their mother’s hands off their ears and crept up behind Sandra.
“Help us, please. She doesn’t feed us, and she spends all of our money on alcohol. Because he was sick of her, Daddy left us. The girl begged, “Please don’t leave us alone with her!”
Sandra told the little girl, “Don’t worry, all right?” “She is no longer going to hurt you!”
Sandra grabbed her phone quickly and sent James a text message with the address, asking him to come over right away. He was a Tennessee State Police officer, and by chance, his team was making rounds in Sandra’s neighborhood at the time. In a matter of seconds, he and his teammates got there and saved the kids.
Catherine was arrested for abusing her children. When police searched her home, they found bottles of alcohol and a briefcase full of stacks of cash, which she had gotten after taking out all the money that the children’s father had left for them through insurance.
Sandra and James took Jessica and Spencer to the police station, where their statements were written down. They then took the kids home, where Sandra fed, bathed, and dressed them.
Later that night, Sandra and James sat next to the sleeping children and decided to give them a new life by adopting them. They tried for years to have children, and finally God gave them not just one but two beautiful ones.
Catherine’s children were hurt by her, so the court took away her parental rights and sent her to jail. At the Christmas party, the school principal praised Robin for being brave and kind when he helped Jessica and Spencer.
It turned out that the boy was sneaking off during lunch break every day to take the leftovers because he was afraid his mother would punish him if she knew he was helping Jessica and Spencer. She had told him to stay away from the kids because Catherine was an alcoholic and didn’t seem like a good person. But Robin’s action helped his mother realize that she should have helped Jessica and Spencer instead of trying to avoid them.
So, on Christmas Eve, she had Sandra, her husband, and the kids over for a delicious Christmas dinner of honey-glazed ham, stew, green beans, and her famous roast turkey with gravy.
They all had a great dinner together, told each other stories about their lives, and praised Robin for not only doing the right thing but also giving two miserable children a Christmas miracle.
