One little boy had a big gift idea on his wish list this year, and when told it probably wouldn’t happen, he said, “Why not, I’m on the good list.”
Alex Stamboulidis is a 9 year old in Connecticut with autism, who was born three months premature with a grade four brain bleed. Alex only weighed 1 pound 4 ounces.
It was a miracle he survived.
Well, now another miracle has taken place in Alex’s life . . .
While Alex was visiting a “Sensitive” Santa at ASD Fitness in Orange last week, he asked for a pretty hefty gift . . . A GRAND PIANO.
The Sensitive Santa keeps his Ho-Ho-Hos down and they use lower lighting for children on the spectrum who struggle with sensory overload, and even that Santa had to warned Alex that Santa can’t always deliver for every gift request. Some items are just too big to bring down the chimney.
A local paper did a story about the Sensitive Santa session and even shared how boys and girls that day had asked for everything “from black socks to a grand piano.”
One couple read about Alex’s wish in the article, and offered to donate their 75 year old baby grand piano.
Barbara and Malcom Rashba’s baby grand, from Barbara’s childhood, would be donated and dedicated in memory of their son Gary.
Gary was the “musically inclined” one in the family, and very philanthropic, but lost his battle with cancer two years early at the age of 47.
The couple shared that Gary would have loved the donation, adding, “If we can make a child happy, we’re happy to do that.
There was one minor hiccup in the gift giving plan — It would cost over $500 to have the 650 instrument delivered. Not just any movers can handle it, either. A team specializing in pianos must come out to carefully disassemble and then reassemble it.
The kind-hearted couple called Mike Storz, the president of Chapel Haven Schleifer Center, a school for those with autism and other special needs, and shared their desire to donate the piano to the 9 year old.
Storz reached out to Walter Petro, owner of Father & Son Moving & Storage and asked about sending a team of movers to help make the magic happen.
Petro shares, “I said, ‘Let’s just do it because it’s the right thing to do.'” He adds, “The look on Alex’s face is going to be priceless.”
Once everything was in place, Santa escorted Alex down the stair of the young man’s home to see his special gift.
Alex clinched his fists and jumped with joy as he took a peek inside the piano, and said, “Look at these strings.”
Alex’s dad bought him a keyboard once, and though the 9 year old has never had lessons — that’s next — after watching a couple YouTube videos memorized how to play Beethoven’s “Fur Elise.”
The second Alex’s fingers touched the baby grand piano’s keys, hey started playing the classical classic.
Alex’s mom shares, “I feel like it’s going to lead to something bigger down the road. That this will lead to a career.”
(MSN)
