An Idaho widower whose late wife wrote a letter to a “Secret Santa” ahead of her death has received a generous pick-me-up from a local good Samaritan who was touched by the couple’s story of love and strength.

The anonymous Secret Santa partners with East Idaho News to give deserving people a total of $1 million over the course of each Christmas season, so when Kjerstin heard about it last year, she decided to reach out. 

“In the ten years that Secret Santa has blessed people, he has never received a letter like this,” the news outlet’s Nate Eaton said this week, before reading out the letter:

Dear Secret Santa,

I realize getting a nomination in February is unusual, but unfortunately, I won’t be around in December, so hopefully, you will consider the request.

Back in 2020 I started passing out. Over the past almost four years, my health has continued to deteriorate to the point that I need full-time care. I’m a quadriplegic and I can’t eat regular food. Finally after years of specialist after specialist and every test they could think of, I finally got a diagnosis of ALS.

Going on to describe how her husband, Dustin, took care of her, Kjerstin said he amazed her with his “depth of his love and compassion” as he became her caretaker while financially supporting them both.

She then asked Secret Santa to help Dustin complete some upgrades to their home that they were unable to complete due to her illness — “just fix a fence and extend the patio and get a pergola to have a little shade… My request for Secret Santa is for Dustin to have a comfortable shady spot to read his book.”

Kjerstin succumbed to ALS just weeks after writing that letter back in February, but her friend who submitted the Secret Santa request for her added her own words to emphasize just how much Dustin deserved something nice for himself after his wife’s four-year battle with the disease.

“I also feel it is important to point out that Dustin continued to work on the police force serving our city,” she wrote in her addition to the letter, before explaining how Dustin made sure that all of Kjerstin’s loved ones were okay after she died. 

The friend also recounted how difficult it was for Kjerstin to muster the strength to write her letter to Secret Santa, because she had lost the mobility in her hands and even the ability to speak. 

Towards the end of her life, Kjerstin “used an iPad to communicate” and had to point at letters on the screen with her eyes to type each word.

“I sat with her as she typed each word with her eyes for the letter that was composed for this nomination. It took many hours and so much strength from her to do this,” the friend added.

Eaton and his camera crew paid Dustin a surprise visit at his job, where the widower immediately attempted to stifle the emotions on his face when the anchor began reading his late wife’s letter.

When asked if he knew about the letter, Dustin said “Not a clue” while holding back tears. “No idea… I had no idea.”

As he opened up the gift, he said, “I’m not supposed to be crying, I’m a policeman.”

Despite this, his eyes filled with tears as he realized that he had just been given a certificate to get $15,000 worth of landscaping done. 

“Wow… I’m blessed beyond measure, I have no words to describe any of this, other than Kjerstin was so amazing and I’m blessed to have had her in my life for 30 years,” Dustin said.

“Thank you, thank you,” he added.

So far this year, the Secret Santa has also surprised a pastor who lost his home to a fire with $10,000, a struggling single mom with $8,000, and a dad who needed to travel back and forth to see his daughter in the hospital with a new car.