People usually tear open their presents during Christmas, but one man from Canada has left one of his Christmas gifts unwrapped for nearly 50 years.
He wasn’t doing it for fun – he has a reason why he wants to leave it unopened. It was given by a girl.
Adrian Pearce received the gift back in 1970 when he was only 17 years old. A girl named Vicki was his first serious girlfriend, and his also first heartbreak.
“She gave me a present at the same time and I took the present home. 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,” Pearce recalled.
When Vicki broke up with Pearce before Christmas, she gave him a gift, covered in shiny dark paper.
“And so I fired the present under the Christmas tree. After my family opened their gifts at Christmas, there was still one Christmas gift left and it’s the gift this girl Vicki had given me. I told my family I’m never going to open that present.”
Up to this day, he still hasn’t opened the gift.
Pearce eventually got married and started his own family. For years, he would place the mystery gift under their Christmas tree. Even though his children begged, he refused to open the box.
The tradition stopped when Pearce’s wife announced that his ex-girlfriend’s gift should not be placed under the family’s Christmas tree.
Although he obliged, he still kept it in a hiding place. His new tradition is to simply take the mystery gift out from time to time, just look at it, and put it back to its hiding place.
“I kept it initially because I guess I had hopes that we would get back together and open it together,” Pearce shared. “Now it’s just become a habit after 47 years of looking at it and having the pleasure of not opening it.”
Pearce says it is intriguing to leave the gift unwrapped. Once it is opened, the mystery will disappear. In 2020, it will be 50 years since his ex-girlfriend handed him the gift. To celebrate, he wants to organize a contest with an entry fee. The contestants will guess what’s inside the mystery gift. All proceeds would be given to charity.
“Perhaps she can be found and share in the celebration,” Pearce said.