Thread by @saysthefox

I think everyone could use a lighthearted/happy story right now so here goes:

At the beginning of the pandemic I went through some painful personal stuff and would often go out at night for long walks because no one was around and I couldn’t sleep anyway. One night I was walking

down my street and noticed that someone had set up a few little objects in a tree planter and upon closer inspection I realized it was a fairy garden with a little note about the 4 year old girl who felt lonely in quarantine and wanted to spread some cheer. The next day I wrote

a little note to her, pretending to be a fairy named Sapphire that had come to live in the tree because she had set it up so nicely and I left it on the tree that night on my walk and said I would gift her with a magical fairy dice (I got really into crafting resin rpg die at

the start of the pandemic) if she did 3 things for me:

I wasn’t sure if she’d respond or even find the note but it was fun just imagining what she’d think. The next night on my walk I found this and immediately burst into tears:

So I left a bunch of my die that had small imperfections and left her another note and also a little extra note for her parents with my name and phone number so they could contact me and know I wasn’t some creep leaving notes for their small child:

This was there the next day:

Doing this every night gave me purpose in a horribly painful and lonely time. I looked forward to my days again and I started ordering art supplies and little trinkets to leave her.

We wrote back and forth throughout the last 9 months, helping each other feel less lonely and I

got to chat with her mom via text to make sure my gifts were a little more personal. At one point she asked for a photo of me and thankfully I had some elf costume items from the previous Halloween so I photoshopped some photos of myself in costume, looking like a fairy. 🤣

In the past month her mom sent me a text letting me know that they had closed escrow on a new house a little further away and would have to leave the fairy garden behind in the care of their neighbors. She also mentioned that Eliana was having a tough time with it so I made sure

to include some support in my letters and told her I had to move as well so she’d feel like we were both going through it together. Her mom said it was helping her so much and they really wanted to try to see me somehow before they left.

Well today, their moving day, after a

few days of planning with her mom, I got to meet Eliana. I left one last note this morning saying i had to move out today and made up a little story that when fairies move houses, they grow to the size of a human just for one day to move all of their belongings. I said I had one

more gift for her and would leave it this afternoon and hoped 😉 she wouldn’t catch me. As they came back from their last walk around their neighborhood I was by the tree leaving her gift and she got to catch me in the act. (I got tested two days ago and her

parents did too to make sure we were all safe because I really needed to hug that girl) We got to sit and talk for about an hour and she asked me a million questions about what life is like as a fairy, some I had prepared and others I hadn’t. It was incredible and one of the

most important and impactful afternoons of my life thus far. I hope one day when she’s older she can understand that I truly needed her as much as she needed me these past few months.

This is the book she wrote me after I encouraged her to keep telling such amazing stories.

We plan to keep in touch/write letters to each other from time to time. She’s changed me forever and the things her mom has said about how her self-confidence, her kindness towards others and her creativity have skyrocketed since meeting me make me feel like I made an impact too.

I hope that’s....a good thing 🤣

When I went to sleep this had like 10 likes 😵. I have nothing to promote, I just ask that you try to do something special for someone today and keep the magic going ♥️ thank you all for being so sweet.

I’ve had tears in my eyes all morning reading all these amazing messages. This was my special little secret that only 2 or 3 people knew about for the last 9 months, I wasn’t trying to get any attention for any of it but I’m so glad it’s bringing people so much joy. Thank you all

I also found out today that Eliana has Synesthesia just like me and I can’t wait to discuss this further with her in the future 😭 her parents are such a treasure

Here’s a video of Eliana finding one of the gifts. I’m so thankful her mom took little videos of these moments.

With some help from her aunt, I got to surprise Eliana and her family last night on their Christmas Zoom call and play a few games with them. 🤗🥰 It was the best!

Forgot to share Eliana’s Valentine’s Day gift to Sapphire 🥲 such beautiful art and SO good at writing/spelling for her age! She’s amazing! I’ll be finishing up my next gift for her either today or tomorrow and will share the end result 🤗

Pi Day is a big deal for us 🤓 In this box, Nova asked if Eliana could keep track of the weather for her and learn the different types of clouds 🤗

Eliana’s parents are everything I hope to be when I have my own kids 🥺 They are the absolute best and encourage all the best things in her ♥️ I’m so honored that they let me into their beautiful little world.

Last night I went to pick up a little package that Eliana made for me and I used chalk to make tiny foot prints leading to the garden so she’d know I had been there. This morning her mom sent me this video of her chalk drawing responses and they’re amazing 🥺

Had another little exchange last night with Eliana 😍 her card is about her swimming lessons in a ‘big pool where she can’t stand’ 😆 mine included some rocks/shells and I asked her to help me design a new fairy garden for a tree nearby.

A little clip of her opening the box of rocks. I’m so glad she said they were pretty 🥺😭 I gave her some of my favorite recent finds. + some Totoro stickers and a bookmark.

Eliana’s most recent gift was absolutely not packaged in an old Van’s shoebox 🤣 (it was) but she got her Sapphire letters and those from the ‘other fairies’ on the prettiest new stationary courtesy of @jgoodleaf (butterflies were a theme of this one, inspired by @donnadoutsk)

😭😭😭 she loved seeing the island grey foxes I met on my birthday trip so she got her own to snuggle with 🤗 I’m also cracking up at her dad saying ‘be careful of the fairy dust’. Oops 😅 it’s biodegradable, I promise!

My birthday gift 😩🥺 I LOVE the rocks

Eliana and I got to chat for a bit two nights ago because I had a stressful week and she starts at a new school after thanksgiving break so we both needed a little cheering up and fairy magic 🤗🥰

We tried to see who had a better ‘Evil Troll Laugh’. I think she won

Eliana’s 6th birthday is today and I wanted to do something special for her because she just started at a new school and is moving to a new house so there have been a lot of changes in her life. Therefore, I want to make her birthday extra magical ✨
👇

I just need like one or two more! I’ve got 3.5 more hours 🙏🏼I’m about to start knocking on my friends’ doors and demanding they put on the fairy ears lol. The ones I’ve gotten are so good so far. I’ll take trolls/gnomes/elves/wizards, whatever you got! 🧙‍♂️🧜‍♀️🧝‍♀️

Of course I forgot to turn on the microphone in my screen recording of my convo with Eliana last night 🤦🏼 but this was her telling me she’s been watching The Mandalorian and it’s her favorite show because the Mandalorian ‘is really SO FOCUSED’ 🤣

If you missed it, CBS just aired an update on our story 🥲 brb, just sitting here crying my eyes out. I’m still in shock about all of this and am just so happy that happy stories are being shared and appreciated.

Soooo this happened tonight…and I feel incredibly honored to have an original Eliana masterpiece on my body forever 🤗

Just a little update 🥲 can’t wait to have another chat soon. I’ve been saving up some stories and jokes for her and got some supplies for her next gift. Very excited 😊

Guess who I got to talk to last night! 😊 She’s getting a new baby sister, so we chatted a bit about big life changes and how much fun it’ll be. I have a lot of work the next few days but the day I get back I’m going to drop off her next gift, I can’t wait.

I’m SO EXCITED for her to open this one

These videos give a rough day a complete 180 🥲