It turns out, Bill Gates is a very thoughtful gift-giver, as one Michigan woman can attest after the tech titan was, surprisingly, her Secret Santa this year.
Gates has been known to participate in Reddit's annual Secret Santa event. Random strangers, only connected through Reddit, take part in the gift exchange, not knowing who their Secret Santa will be. Shelby from Oakland County, Michigan is one such participant. She has sent Secret Santa gifts 95 times in the past. This year, however, the experience was a bit different.
She was surprised to receive an 81 pound box at her local FedEx office. It was too big to fit into her car, so she had to open it and load it up, piece-by-piece.
Inside the package was an array of gifts that the mystery gift-giver had to have taken considerable time to pick out. Shelby explains in a Reddit post that the box was sent overnight to her from the Seattle area.
"When I first opened the box at FedEx, in front of all the workers, there were two things on the top," Shelby said on a YouTube video. "It's this letter from Bill Gates and it talks about how this was my 95th exchange, so the box that everything came in, he had sparkly red die-cut stickers that said number 95 on each side of the box."
Her favorite present: a manuscript of The Great Gatsby, Shelby's favorite book. But also, Gates took the time to make a personal touch. Shelby lost her mother this year, shortly before her wedding in April.
Shelby read Gates' letter to her, it states: "I know no gift will ever make up for losing someone so important to you. I was very sorry to hear about your mom and I’ve made a donation to the American Heart Association in her memory. I hope you and your family find your new normal this holiday season."
Also included (to name a few): a deck of cards, each featuring one of Bill Gates' favorite books; Twin Peaks memorabilia including a crew jacket from the set of season 2, filmed in 1991; toys for her cat; Star Wars and Harry Potter Legos; a Zelda quilt; lots of Oreos; a variety of books.
It's not the first time Gates has participated in the Secret Santa fun on Reddit. In 2016, a Nebraska woman reportedly was surprised by Gates. He also took the time to send thoughtful gifts. The woman, Alicia, received an array of Zelda-themed presents (one of her favorite fandoms), including matching Zelda mittens for her and her dog. Gates even photoshopped himself into Alicia's family photo.
At the time, Alicia told a Seattle-area podcast: “It was like opening the holy grail with like angels singing and Bill Gates’ face staring at me under a layer of bubble wrap I immediately called my husband and scared the crap out of him."
ncG1vNJzZmivmpawtcKNnKamZ56axLR7zp%2Bdm52RqXy0wdGpqaKrlWLGsMHRZqqem6KawW6%2FwKermmWZqHqjtculZKCZpJrA