Kristina kept the letter and sent her reply through Facebook.
As a seven-year-old boy, American Andrew Piotrowski from Illinois sent a letter and several small presents to an anonymous child. Sending letters and gifts was organized by the church which his family attended at the time. His letter and toys were received by Kristina Brunja, a girl from Croatia, reports 24sata.hr on August 23, 2018.
Last month, 23 years later, Kristina sent a message to Andrew on Facebook. She wrote that she had received his letter and gifts while the war was raging in Croatia and that they meant a great deal to her – she felt there was somebody somewhere who cared about her.
“Hi, my name is Andrew. I hope you like the toys. I am seven years old. I like basketball and I like to play, do you? Merry Christmas,” wrote the boy in his letter.
Here is how he described the story on Facebook:
“Something really amazing happened to me today. I received a message on Facebook from someone I do not know. Since I am always careful in such situations, I wanted to delete it. However, I wanted to see the photo because I am terribly curious.
It turned out that, as a seven-year-old boy, I wrote a letter to an anonymous child and sent presents as part of an initiative led by the church attended by my family. The gifts and the letter were sent to a little girl Kristina in Croatia. Somehow, I do not know how, she kept the letter all these years and managed to found me on Facebook, although I do not use the address I gave her since high school.
She told me she had received my letter during the war (the Croatian War of Independence ended in 1995, so it coincides with the period when I wrote the letter) and that the letter and the gifts had a strong influence on her life – she felt as if there was somebody somewhere who cared.
It just proves – you should be good to each other. We can have a greater impact on people than we ever thought possible. Even if you never find out what you have accomplished with an act of goodness, you can be sure that it meant something to someone.
I still like basketball, I still like to play. Some things never change. :)”
His post drew a lot of positive comments. After his story was published by the Chicago Tribune, Andrew began receiving messages from unknown people thanking him for sharing his story with the world.
“Hey, we do not know each other, but I have read your story in the Chicago Tribune. We have a common friend on Facebook, he and I went to the same college. I used to have a pen pal from Mundelein, and because of your experience I now want to start writing letters again,” said one of the comments.
Translated from 24sata (reported by Ira Kralj).
