Story Archive

Christmas Blue

When Adrian Pearce was 17 years old, his girlfriend in Don Mills, Ont., Canada, gave him a Christmas gift — and then broke up with him. “I had a long walk home and I was all upset and angry and all the things you feel when somebody breaks up with you,” remembers Pearce, who is now 64 and lives in Edmonton, Alta. He has kept the gift, still wrapped in shiny blue paper, refusing to open it. On the other hand, he refuses to get rid of it: he used to put it under the tree every year, confusing his children and angering his wife, who finally banned the girl’s gift from the family’s tree. This year, he tried to call Vicki — his old girlfriend from decades before. “I was almost shaking I was so nervous,” Pearce said. But it was the wrong woman: he reached a 91-year-old by the same name who said she never lived in Ontario. “I kept it initially because I guess I had hopes that we would get back together,” Pearce said. “Now it’s just become a habit after 47 years of looking at it and having the pleasure of not opening it.” (RC/Canadian Press) ...Inside: a note saying the breakup was just a joke.