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- Right. I'll be right back with your drinks.
- Have a nice day.
- One more day to go.
- Thanks for switching shifts with Yvonne.
- Christmas pageants are not to be missed.
- Let me give you a high-five, girl.
- I need three more reindeer waffles
and a Christmas tree quesadilla.
- I'm running out of antlers. I mean, bacon.
Bacon antlers. You know what I mean.
- Let me get this for you?
Just a sec.
It's okay, it's okay...
It's okay, baby...
Oh my goodness...
Shh... shh... shh...
"It's killing me to leave my baby behind,
but I can't bear the thought of seeing her suffer
as I have suffered these past few years.
Please tell her that I love her
and that I pray I'll hold her again someday.
That will forever be my hope."
- No.
Yeah, right.
Mm...
Debatable. No.
Hope?!
Uh...
What're you doing? You're not supposed to be here!
- I'm okay. I wanna be here.
- No, you don't. Trust me, nobody wants to be here.
- No, really.
One day home alone on the couch was enough.
- Oh Hope, I'm so sorry, girl.
Oh...
- So... how's the dating?
- Oh, pretty good.
I just matched with a guy who works at IKEA.
- Is he cute?
- Oh, no, but I do need help putting together
my new bookshelf, so...
- What happened to the masthead!
- What does he want? - Hope?! Is Hope there?!
- Tell him we had to adjust it
to accommodate the new banner ads.
- Hope! - Got it.
- Hope-y!
- Welcome back!
- What kind of graphics designer would do this?!
Hope!
What's going on?
- Um, they had to adjust the masthead
to accommodate the new banner ads.
- What?
All right... How's it going
fact-checking that cryptocurrency fraud story?
- Um, I'll get right on it this morning.
- Oh, 'cause you weren't here yesterday 'cause of...
Sorry to hear about your mom. - Thank you.
- Do you need more time off? - No.
- Good, good, 'cause we got a lot of work to do.
I just scheduled a pitch meeting for tomorrow
to discuss story ideas for the Christmas season
and I'd like you to be there... - I'd love to!
- To serve peppermint hot chocolate 'cause I really think
that'll up the ol' Christmas quotient around here.
People'll think I'm... - Okay.
- a swell guy. Hot chocolate.
- Um... should I get some whipped cream as well?
- Excellent idea.
Oh, and book me a table at Farenelli's.
I wanna take our precious writers
out to lunch.
- Okay.
- Goodbye.
- I really wanted to make my mom proud.
Instead, I'm serving hot chocolate
and making dinner reservations.
- For where? - Farinelli's.
- Oh no, I got food poisoning there once.
- And I'm tired of waiting for him to see me
as more than just his assistant.
I took this job because I wanna be a journalist.
- Mm. - I wanna be at Farinelli's.
- You want food poisoning? - Yes!
No! You know what I mean.
- You march into his office right now
and you tell him what you told me.
- You're right. Here I go! - Mhmm. Yeah.
- I'm going! - You tell him, girl!
- What? - He's at Farinelli's
I'll tell him tomorrow.
- Hope...
your mom was already super proud of you.
Ooh! A match!
- Hello?
Cop: Yeah, they make me write this list up.
I don't know why
'cause you're never gonna see your stuff again.
- I figured. - Yeah, and I mean...
The door, you got a single bolt lock on that,
no security system.
You... you couldn't have made it any easier for these guys
if you tried. - Excuse me?
- There's always an increase in break-ins this time of year.
I mean, it tends to bring out the worst in people.
And you cannot stay here tonight.
- Where am I supposed to go?
- I don't know. Your parents? Family.
- I'm all alone.
- Oh...
Okay, uh...
- Look, I'm sorry, I just need a minute.
- That's... yeah.
- Someone left this at my door.
Did you see it when you came in?
"Christmas Jar."
- I'm looking for stuff that was stolen, right?
- You know, maybe one of the neighbors dropped it.
- I doubt it. - Well, I'll ask around.
- What? You don't just go knockin' on people's doors
saying, "Hey, did you drop a jar full of cash?"
- Why not? - Why not?
Be...because the first person you ask
is gonna take it from you
before you even finish the sentence.
- I think people are better than that.
- I don't know what world you live in,
but I can assure you, they're not.
- "Thank you so much."
- I know I don't pay you much, but...
please tell me you're not secretly living here.
- Um, I was just getting caught up on some stuff.
- Oh... well, that's the thing about working in news,
you can never caught up. It's always breaking.
- That's what I love about it. - Yeah, can you get me a coffee please?
- Sure. Uh, can I talk to you first?
- Yeah, weren't we just... talking?
- I've worked hard as your assistant
and I've learned a lot. - Oh, you're not quitting
on me, are ya? I don't have time to train someone new--
- No, no. No, I'm not quitting.
- 'Kay. - No, I wanna be considered
for a writing assignment.
I've paid my dues and I'm ready for the next step.
- Oh, you have paid your dues? Of course.
Because you are 22 and you've only been here...
a year? - Almost.
Yeah. - Yeah...
- Lyle, you were 21 when you had
your first byline at the Boston Globe.
- Uh-huh. I see what you did there.
Yeah... - Yeah...
- Let's revisit this conversation in six months.
If you are still here then,
I will give you a shot. - 'Kay, what if I'm not?
What if I've moved on to a competitor's website by then?
- Oh...
Well, then I guess we'd just have to soldier on without you?
Yeah... Yeah, that's what we'd do. Yup.
It is November 30th, people,
all right? And I am gonna be running
two full weeks of Christmas-themed content
starting on the tenth.
I need to hear some solid pitches...
starting now.
And I'm gonna go to my go-to girl, Rory!
- We've got the year's latest tech gifts and gadgets.
- Next!
- A Christmas tipping guide?
Who in your life should you be tipping and how much?
- Hmm. Well, here's a tip: no!
But I do like the elf ears. - Really?
'Cause I got a whole bunch more at home.
Mostly elven, but some vulcan. - Yeah?
- I'll bring 'em to the Christmas party.
- Okay, that'd be great.
How 'bout an idea, though, in the meantime?
What do we got?
Chester! Quit the drinkin', get to thinkin'.
Rory, my golden girl.
- There's a new diet, the Eggnog Christmas Cleanse.
- That's disgusting.
- It's basically Keto and it's delicious.
- It's basically boring. We ran fad diets last year.
Stevie. - Top ten Christmas movies
to watch with your family? - Uh... not bad.
- It's not great a idea.
- Morgana, I gave you those extra few seconds.
Lay it on me. Nothin'?
Well, then it's up to my girl... Ror-i.
Give me somethin'.
- Gift cards: Good idea? Or lazy and impersonal?
- Lazy and impersonal.
Guys! These are all derivative, boring,
uninspiring clickbait - all of these.
What I want - and what I need -
are stories with, with heart,
with tradition, with...
Christmas spirit!
You know what? Maybe it is time...
to give Hope a crack at this.
- Me?
- Yeah. Do you have any stories, Hope?
- Of course, I do.
- Tomorrow, we're all gonna come back here
with some fresh pitches...
and I am very much looking forward
to hearing what you have, Hope.
Guys, gotta go.
Work on it! Think, think, think!
- So I saw this really cute guy this morning...
speaking of cute guys!
- Brandi!
I told you about my Christmas Jar, right?
- Uh-huh.
- Well, I was doing a little research
and I discovered a message board of jar recipients.
These people wanted to thank whoever gave them
their Christmas Jar. - From all over the country?
- No, everyone's local.
Yeah, they give away the jars anonymously in December
to someone going through a rough time.
- Like you. - I know.
Kind of amazing, right? Wait.
- What? - Brandi, that's it!
That's my story! - There you go!
Yeah it is!
- So... one more time, from the top.
Just the words: "Christmas Jar" written on the glass?
No other note? Nothing on the bag?
- Nope. - And you didn't see anyone
or hear anything? - Nothing.
- Maybe it's a friend of your mom's?
- Maybe. - Or someone who saw the police
at your door
and knew something bad was happening.
- Uh, yeah, maybe.
- How many other jars do you think are out there?
- Well, I've only been able to track 12 stories so far.
Nine years ago was the earliest one I found,
but I have a feeling I'm only scratching the surface.
- And do you think it's the same person
giving out all these jars?
- How is she supposed to know that?
- Well, I think it must've been the same person
at the beginning, but...
this whole thing has totally snowballed
and some people who've found a jar
have now been inspired to start jars of their own.
- That's what I would do.
- Me too. Only I'd decorate mine with rhinestones
over purple glitter-- - Oh, come on, Rory!
It's supposed to be a Christmas Jar!
- So what? - So what you're describing
is not traditional.
- Uh, says the guy with the hairy Hobbit-feet slippers.
- Hope... - Yes?
- Where do you think this idea came from?
- I don't know. But that's what I wanna figure out
and write about.
- It's like there's a Christmas angel out there.
Still got a lot of holes.
- Yeah...
- But it is an intriguing story.
You got two weeks, kid.
Do not mess it up! - Yeah.
- And still get me my coffee!
- Thank you, Lyle.
Yeah!
- Bravo!
Bravo...
- Hi, this Hope Jensen from City Buzz.
Yeah, I saw your post about the Christmas Jar
you found in your mailbox
and I was wondering if I could interview you?
Yeah, I was wondering if I could interview you
about the Christmas jar you found in your mailbox?
Hi, this Hope Jensen from City Buzz.
Yes.
Oh, I promise it'll take ten minutes.
Oh, sorry, can you hang on a second?
Hello? But wouldn't it be nice
to hear an uplifting story for a change?
I'll buy you lunch.
- Someone say lunch?
- Or a pony!
Yeah!
Hello?
- A pony?
- I could be bribed with a pony.
- Yeah.
- The same people who posted their story online
won't talk to me.
It seems like they'd rather keep the whole thing a mystery.
- Keep your chin up.
You don't want one of those flappy turkey things. Yeah.
- It's called a wattle.
- Actually, the correct term is a caruncle.
Also known as a dewlap or a snood.
- Snood?
- Hey, how was your date last night?
- It was a no-show. - Oh, I'm so sorry.
- Oh, no, I backed out.
He texted me like five times yesterday.
I cannot deal with that level of crazy.
- Hi.
Hey... - What?
- N-nothing. Just hey. Hi.
- Yeah, you said that. - I...
I brought you a muffin. - I'm gluten-free.
- Of course you are.
Uh... yeah, gluten's bad. Uh...
- 'Kay, thanks. Bye, Steve.
- 'Kay. Bye.
- What about Steve?
- I swipe left.
- Oh! "Dear Hope, I got your email
and would be happy to do an interview
about the Christmas Jar."
- There you go! - I did it!
- High-five! Hey! Yeah!
- Okay. All right, your homework is due tomorrow.
You better be able to name all 96 countries.
Hi! - Hi.
Come on in. Yeah, have a seat.
- Here? - Yeah!
- 'Kay.
Okay...
- Oh...
no phones in my classroom. Mm-mm.
Also, no chewing gum.
- You want me to...? - I do.
- Sorry. - That's okay... this time.
I'd love to think
that whoever gave me my jar
will read your article
and know how much it meant to me.
- I'd like that too.
- I was just a teacher's assistant back then
and I had just said my good-byes for the last time.
It's hard for children to understand budget cuts,
but I did my best as I always do.
I promised to put the tears on the inside
as I packed up things into my bag...
- Right. - But then my bag...
was really heavy and that's when I found it.
- Was there a-- - Whoa-oa.
We put our hands up when we ask questions.
I'm just kidding. - Oh!
- No, I'm not.
Yes, I am. Yeah, I'm confused.
What's your question?
- Was there a note with your jar?
- Yeah, there was, yeah.
The note said, "Merry Christmas.
You will be missed."
And then came the waterworks.
They were tears of gratitude, you know?
Does that makes sense? - Mhmm. Of course. Yeah.
- And the funny thing is,
is that I wasn't really into Christmas before all of this.
- And now?
- Now, I can't get enough of it!
These jars are proof that the magic of Christmas
is real.
Oh, and I started my own Christmas jars.
Ahh!
But I already gave that Christmas Jar away last week,
so this one is for next year.
- Wow. Here. I'd love to...
Oh... - For your jar.
It's contagious, you know.
- Sorry, what is? - Kindness.
- I know I have this amazing story on my hands,
but... I still don't know who's behind it.
- What if they don't want their story told?
- That's her job, Cynthia. - You said yourself
this tradition has been going on for years.
If they wanted to, don't you think
they would've come forward by now?
- Well, maybe nobody ever asked,
and that's what she's doing.
- Not everyone wants credit for their good deeds.
- Hope, I'm dying to know who's behind this.
- Yeah, so am I.
And this is the opportunity I've been searching for.
If I can't deliver, it's back to coffee-girl land.
- Look, I know that this is your big break.
I just don't agree with the approach.
- She's an undercover reporter trying to crack a story
with a positive spin. - Mhmm!
This is a win!
Hope, honey, you're gonna knock this right out the park.
So um... where's the red string?
- I was fresh out.
- None of these people know each other.
- Right. - What do the numbers
next to their names mean?
- Well, recipient one refers to the guy
who found the first jar that I'm aware of,
all the way down to me, number 51.
- Who's this guy?
I'd like to interview him if you know what I mean.
Number Seven, come on down!
- Brandi, focus. - Oh, yeah...
- Okay. Numbers 23 through 51
have all been in the last four years
indicating there's likely more than one person responsible
for the gifts.
I thought if I laid it out like this,
it would start to make more sense,
I'd see clues or patterns, but...
it's still not any clearer.
- Hmm...
- Look how you're all the way out on the outskirts.
Here.
- Where do you come from?
- The last 30 jars are all in rural areas,
but jars one through eighteen
are all in the inner city.
- So you're saying whoever gave out the early jars
was likely the same person and...
might've lived in that neighborhood.
- Precisely. These other jars could be the work
of copycat offenders. - Mm.
I mean, uh... assailant? Uh...
- Thanks, Steve.
- Mr. Investigator.
Well, I always knew there was a reason I went DC over Marvel.
Detective Comics. Hey?
Ooh! - That was my bad.
Um... I uh...
I thought the brakes were on the...
- Let's go for lunch. - Yeah.
- I... I can... I got this!
Don't worry about a thing. - Sorry, Steve.
- When I first came to the United States,
I was excited but nervous.
My English wasn't very good
and it was hard for me to make friends.
I felt like I didn't fit in
and oh... Christmastime was the worst.
- How so?
- Well, what people don't realize
is that holiday celebrations are only fun
for the people that get invited to them.
Every day, I would just go to work and come home.
I felt like no one even saw me.
Except for those kids.
- Children have a way of seeing things.
- Mm...
especially when they stole my laptop.
- Oh. - And my bicycle.
And the wreathe on my door.
And stuffed a rotten pumpkin into my mailbox.
At least I think it was a pumpkin.
- Ew. - I can't even...
But right when I was at my lowest point,
when I was wondering if this country
was ever going to feel like home,
I found this jar at my door.
It confused me at first,
but there was a red ribbon tied on around it
and the word "Christmas Jar"
was on the glass,
so I understood it was a gift. - Mm.
- Someone actually wanted to do something nice for me.
That changed everything.
- I don't suppose you ever found out who gave you the jar?
- I don't know who he is
but my security system caught the man on video.
Please tell me you still have that video!
- I think I can find it.
- Who are you?
Ope-hey Doe-pey! How's our story coming along?
- It's great! Everything's great.
- Don't slow her down. - Got any advice?
- Yeah. Don't mess it up.
This is exactly the kind of story I want to run this year,
so I'm really looking forward to reading it.
- Thanks, Lyle.
- Pssst! Yo!
- I don't know how I'm gonna figure out who this guy is!
- Come on, girl, you're an investigative reporter now!
You gotta think like a cop... - Mm...
- act like a cop, move like a cop.
Cop like a cop.
- You're brilliant.
- I know.
- It's a 1974 MG.
You can't make out the license plate,
but there can't be that many of them registered in the State.
- You know, I offered to fix your lock,
not help you stalk some poor guy.
- Well, you know I'm not really stalking him.
It's for my article.
I know you think Christmas brings out the worst in people,
but look at this guy!
He gives away jars full of change
to perfect strangers down on their luck,
and I wanna write about him.
Come on. It's a compelling story with a hopeful message
and the world needs more of this right now.
What exactly do you need from me?
- There are only three people in Ohio
with this make and model of car:
a 78-year-old-woman who lives in Akron;
a 53-year-old man who lives in Dayton,
and a 24-year-old guy who lives here in Columbus,
and he's our guy.
Ian Maxwell. He's six foot one,
with brown hair, brown eyes
and no priors. - Scorpio?
- Libra. - Shoot.
- Officer Webber wouldn't tell me anything else,
so I had to do my own digging.
- Love me a good cyber-stalking sesh.
- He graduated three years ago from Ohio State
and now he works for his family's furniture
restoration business, which they run out of their home.
- So you have their address?! - Yeah!
And guess where he lives?
Right here in the middle of everyone.
- No... way. - Yeah!
Problem is, I can't just show up at his door
and be like: "Hey, I know you're the guy
behind the Christmas Jars, can I interview you?"
- Why not? Sometimes when you meet a new guy,
you gotta pretend like you're into
the same stupid stuff that he's into.
- Brandi, that's really, really bad advice.
- Hear me out.
Show up with an old piece of furniture,
you talk about your mutual love of sandpaper and polish
and whatever else that he does,
and then boom! Done. You're in.
- I don't know.
What about this?
- I've already got one of those.
- No you don't! I'm getting it.
- For what?
- Duh! Masquerade Mondays.
- That's so not a thing.
- Not yet.
Ooh...
This is what I've been looking for.
- I can't believe they still want $75 bucks for this thing.
- I think it's perfect.
- I think it's old. - Hmm.
Would you take fifty bucks
for this old... broken desk?
Well, this is a gorgeous antique
mahogany ladies writing desk
with green leather inset from the Regency Era.
- So... fifty bucks?
- You got it. - Yes!
Uh, is there anything else you can tell me about it?
- There's a locked drawer. No key, unfortunately.
- And what about all the damage?
- Oh ladies...
what do you think you're gonna look like in 200 years?
- Fair point.
Okay...
- Hi there! - Oh!
- You must be Hope. - I am.
- I'm Adam and this is my daughter, Hannah.
Hey, w-w-wait.
Let me give you a hand there. - Okay.
- I'll give you a hand.
Oh, oh, ah! My hand! My hand! - Oh! Okay!
- Uh, I'm just kidding.
- Oh, here. - You got it?
- Yes. - All right.
- There we go. - Okay.
- There you go, just... - Take your time.
- Watch the legs there. - Take your time.
- Oh! - Ahh...
What did this poor desk do to deserve this?
- It was, it was my grandmother's.
I'm afraid it's been a little neglected.
- Where'd your grandmother get it from?
- Oh... um...
I think it was, it was a wedding gift from...
from her father.
- Uh-huh.
- He didn't want her to stop writing
just because she got married.
- Wow. What did she write?
- What did she write...?
Um...
Uh, you know, letters, poems, short stories.
Yeah. That sort of thing.
- How romantic.
- Okay, let's get 'er in there - All right.
- And uh... - Oh, I got it.
- Oh, thank you.
Okay.
- Yeah. Spin center. - Okay, okay.
Bring it closer... - Oh!
- to the table.
- Hope, make yourself at home, okay?
- All right, careful where you step.
Dad's always leaving sharp pieces of wood
and hazardous materials kicking around.
- Hey, it's part of the artistic process.
- Oh, is that what we're calling it now?
He's just messy.
- Two hats hanging on a hat rack.
One said, "You stay here,
I'll go on a head."
- Oh, don't encourage his bad jokes.
- You love them.
- Nope.
- So how many of you are in the family business?
- Well, technically, it's just me, my dad and my brother,
but really everybody lends a hand.
- It looks like you have a lot of other jobs on the go.
- Yeah, but that's normal for us.
- In fact, I have sort of have a strange favor to ask.
I'm a journalism major at Ohio State
and for my business writing class,
I have to write a report about a local, family-owned business.
I was wondering if you would let me
write about Maxwell Restoration?
- Oh, I don't know. We like to keep a low-profile.
- Oh, come on. It might be good for publicity.
- Everyone else in my class
is either writing about a family-owned restaurant,
a dry cleaners, or a funeral home,
and this would just be way more interesting than all of those.
- I don't know. A funeral home sounds pretty interesting
and spooky!
- I promise I would stay out of your way.
- Okay, my little elves.
Who's ready to put down their mallets
and take a break from the workshop?
- Hope, this is my wife Lauren.
Lauren, Hope.
Hope dropped off this beautiful mahogany desk, and um...
she's gonna write something about our business
for a school assignment. What do you think?
- Oh, that's exciting!
Uh, Hope, would you like to join us for lunch?
- Oh, no, no. I... I couldn't possibly.
It's just...
Wait. What is that delicious smell?
- Come on, find out, huh?
- So, Hope, you said you were in your senior year?
What's your plans after you graduate? Do you have any?
- Well, I've always wanted to be a journalist.
- Mm. Alison is gonna love you.
- Sorry, who's Alison? - My little sister.
- She writes all these stories,
but she never shares it with us.
- I used to be like that.
Sharing what you've written is like
letting someone take a peek into your soul.
That's never easy.
- Well, you can tell you're a writer.
Never put words together like that.
- Or sentences. Or coherent thoughts.
- Oh, look who it is!
Just in time for a free lunch like always.
- As a matter of fact, I already ate.
But you go ahead and enjoy that green thing
stuck in your teeth.
Ian, this is Hope.
She's gonna be writing a profile
on Maxwell Restorations for her business writing class.
- Really? You couldn't you find a more interesting company
to write about? - Hey!
- He's just jealous 'cause we get all the thank yous
and he gets all the bills.
- Somebody had to take care of that bookkeeping debacle.
- I overpaid a supplier once! - By $2000.00.
- I'm a giving guy!
- Mom, I said I already ate. - It's a small bowl, so...
- Hope, here's a tip. If my mom asks if you're hungry,
you might as well say yes
because she's gonna feed you anyway.
- Always arrive with an appetite.
- That actually sounds really nice.
Okay, you ready? - For what?
- Come on, you know. Come on! - Oh boy...
- All right, here we go. One, two, three.
Yup!
- Ta-daaaaaaaaaaaa!
- Hey, what're you doing?!
- So... what's Ian like?
- He seems nice.
They all do. - Is he cute?
- I'm trying to work.
- You do think he's cute!
- No, I... look, so what if I do?
That doesn't change the fact that I'm there on assignment.
- Uh-huh.
And I'm still here ordering punch and elf costumes
for the office party all by myself.
- Sorry.
What's with the mistletoe?
- Carry it with you at all times. Works like a charm.
You're welcome.
- It's an antique ladies writing desk
from the Regency era. - Exactly.
- It's the kind of desk you can imagine Jane Austen
probably used to sit at to write her novels.
- You read Jane Austen?
- Well, no, no. I just know the time period
she wrote her books. - Mm...
- Don't lie. Ian loves sappy love stories.
- I do not!
- Everybody likes a good love story.
My son's a romantic.
It's amazing that he's still single.
What about you, Hope? Hm?
Are you single? - Dad!
- What?
- Um, yeah. - Really? Hm!
I would've thought guys would be lining up around the block
to go out with you. - Dad!
- What?
- You know, you should give Ian your phone number.
- Whoa! 'Kay, that's enough. - What?
What? You know, it's just in case,
I mean, an interesting piece comes in and...
you're not here. - Right.
- Huh? - Okay.
- Thanks, Dad.
This piece is stunning.
- You know, each piece has a story to tell.
Our job is to see to it that their stories carry on.
- Do you mind if I record a few questions?
- Yeah, okay.
- So how do you divvy up the workload?
- Well, that's...
That's kind of all over the place.
No real order.
Used to be that Hannah was my apprentice.
I've been teaching her everything I know
since she was 8-years-old.
- Learned a lot that day.
These days, I'm the one learning from her.
- How did this all get started?
- Well, it was, it was when I was in college.
I needed to make a little extra money,
so I started this business
and now, 36 years later, I'm still at it.
And frankly, it's the only thing I ever wanted to do.
What would you say is your company's purpose,
or mission statement?
- Oh, that's easy.
We make damaged furniture beautiful again.
- Clear and simple. - Yeah, sure is.
You can fix just about anything
if you apply enough love and elbow grease.
- Hmm.
- Mom, I'm thirsty.
- Hi, Thirsty! I'm Grandpa.
- Ask grandma to get you a drink.
- I can't find her.
- Honey, my hands are all covered in stain.
- Hey, I can get it for him. - Aw, thanks, Hope.
There's a new bottle of apple juice in the fridge.
- So how old are you, Jake?
- Six. - Six!
Are you driving yet? - Nope!
- Do you have a girlfriend? - No!
Do you have a boyfriend? - No.
Where are the cups?
- Just over there.
- Thank you.
So you must be excited about Christmas!
- I am! - Yeah, me too.
Hey, can you tell me what that jar is?
- Oh, it's the Christmas Jar!
- The Christmas Jar? What's that?
- I'm not supposed to say.
- How come?
So what're you gonna ask Santa for Christmas?
- For Sammy.
- Who's Sammy? - He's lost.
- Oh no...
- Can we go and play now? - Sure.
- You missed a spot there. - Oy.
- Oh, thanks, Hope. - He's adorable.
Who's Sammy?
He said the only thing he wants for Christmas is Sammy.
Who's that?
- That was his Teddy Bear. They were inseparable,
but then we lost him last summer
coming back from visiting my in-laws.
- We've been looking everywhere for a replacement,
but Sammy was a gift to Jake when he was born
and no one seems to be making them anymore.
- Yeah, he's been heartbroken ever since.
- Poor little guy.
- Uh, Ian just found out about another job.
- Ah.
- Y-you should probably go with him to see
how the other side of the business works.
- I'm just loading a piece of old furniture
into my truck, Dad. - Exactly.
It's all part of the process.
She should see everything.
- I don't have to go if-- - No, no, it's...it's fine.
I'd love for you to write about me.
Not-not not about me, about the... the...
Not like... Do you...
I mean, like, the family.
Yeah, let's go. - Okay!
- Take your time, guys, huh?
- Could you be any more obvious?
- What? - I see what you are doing.
- Get back to work.
- You've asked us so many questions,
but we hardly know anything about you.
- That's because I'm not writing a report about me.
- But what if you were? What would you say
is the most interesting thing about you?
- Whatever happened to where'd you grow up?
Or what's your favorite color?
- No one outside of you and my family
knows about my love for classic English lit--
- Romance.
- Literature. - Romance.
- Literature! - It's Romance.
- Yeah, I'll have you know that I'm also a huge fan
of Ellis Bell.
- Well, you know Ellis Bell was the pseudonym
used by Emily Bronte.
- Are you serious? - Yeah.
- I knew that. - Okay.
- 'Kay, let me think. Um...
I cry all the time watching movies.
I have an irrational fear of clowns.
- Who doesn't?
- And on Christmas Eve, when I was about three days old,
I was abandoned in a booth at a roadside diner.
The woman who found me, she...
She became my adoptive mother.
Um...
She was single with...
hardly any money or... family support.
You know, she still managed to do an amazing job raising me
and we were extremely close.
- Where is she now? - Um...
She recently passed away.
- Oh, Hope, I'm... I'm so sorry.
- It's been a really tough time.
- Hey, Hope? - Yeah?
- What's your favorite color?
- Who's had enough? - All right. Thank you.
- Anybody else?
- You sure?
- Jake, what did one snowman say to the other snowman?
Do you smell carrots?
- Jake, is that not the worst joke ever?
- Did you get that from him? - That's as bad as his.
- No, no, no! Mine are good. - Oh...
- Mine are good. - Really?!
- So how do your customers find you?
- Usually word of mouth. - Really?
- Mm-hmm. - 'Cause if you advertised
on Columbus City Buzz, they average 40,000
unique visitors a day. - Wow.
- Yeah, it could equal approximately...
six to ten thousand ad clicks a month,
and it's not even that expensive.
I did an internship there last summer.
Ahh! - Oh! Ahh!
We do go through some slow patches.
- True.
- Something to think about maybe.
- Okay. - Is it true
you were born in a diner? - Jake!
- I'm sorry. - It's okay, no.
- I wasn't born in a diner, Jake,
but my mom dropped me off there
when I was just a little baby.
- Did you ever find out who your birth mother was?
- No, but... you know, I've always wondered
what could've been going on in her life that was so awful
that abandoning me seemed like a better option.
- Do you wanna find her?
- I don't know.
But every Christmas Eve,
my mom and I would sit in our booth at Chuck's
and have a big dinner
and celebrate the day she found me.
- Oh...
- And I always secretly wondered
if maybe my birth mom would show up too,
hoping I'd be there. - Did she ever come back?
- I don't think so.
Every time the door would open with a jingle,
I'd search all the faces
and see if anyone was looking for me.
But... after all these years,
I've stopped searching.
- I'm so sorry, honey.
- Oh, don't be.
I had the best mom I could've asked for.
- What about your grandmother? Is she still alive?
- Hm?
- Your grandmother, the writer.
- The one that gave you the desk!
- Mm!
Mm.
Mm-mm. Mm.
- Why don't we give poor Hope a break?
- I think that's a good idea. - Who's ready for dessert?
- Oh, I don't know. - Yeah.
Yes. I love you.
- You have some of your green beans, 'kay?
Dad!
- I got cake! Who wants cake?!
This is a great photo.
How did you two meet?
- Well, I was 17, Lauren and her family
moved down the street from us.
Prettiest girl in the neighborhood.
I used to see her waiting for the bus
or walking her dog,
but I could never muster the courage
to go and say hi to her.
- And then one day my dog got away from me
when she took off after a squirrel
and Adam helped me get her back.
- Yup.
- How did you know he was the one?
- I just knew.
Or at least my heart knew.
- Gonna make me cry. - I know!
- Baby... - I know. I know.
- So I was getting Jake a drink
and he called that jar on your shelf
your Christmas Jar.
What's that all about?
- Uh...
It's just a place where we throw our change, that's all.
- Oh, come on, Dad, tell the story!
- What story?
Okay. Lauren and I were in our early twenties,
newly married and completely broke,
and, um, Christmas was just around the corner.
And, you know, I wanted to buy something for my...
new beloved bride.
So that November, we had this idea
to maybe throw whatever change we had into a jar
and see what we could save up.
- So I washed out an empty raspberry jam container
and wrote the words: "Christmas Jar"
across the glass. - Yeah, and we put the jar
right in the middle of the table
So we could see it all the time
and - what? - by Christmas we'd saved $28.
- Which didn't go far. - No, it didn't.
- But it was something, right? - It's true. It was something.
So the next year we started earlier, like, I think,
Halloween or something. - It was Labor Day.
- No, I think was Halloween. - It was Labor Day.
It was... It was Labor Day.
- Well, I got this bigger jar and we promised ourselves
we would never dip into it for any reason whatsoever.
And then, of course, the kids came along
and we started even earlier -
wanted to buy gifts for everyone.
Until...
Hannah had other ideas.
It was 22 years ago, Christmas Eve,
and we took the jar to the bank like we always did every year,
before we did our shopping.
Okay, who's ready to put all this change
in the big coin machine?
- Me!
- Are we ready? Right over here, kiddo.
- I already know how much it is!
- How much is in there?
- $874 dollars and 90 cents!
- Are you sure? - Yeah!
- Okay. I think you're probably right.
Hold on. Let me get your baby brother.
Uh, Ian, Ian, Ian. Here we go, here we go. We got you.
Hey...I got you.
- What's the matter?
- It's nothing.
- Why are you so sad?
- Why are you wearing sunglasses
in the wintertime?
- Well, would you like our Christmas Jar?
- No. No thank you, I couldn't.
- Hannah?
Don't wander off like that. You scared the heck out of us.
You okay? - Yeah, I'm okay.
- Yeah? - But this lady isn't.
- Yeah.
- I asked her if she wanted our Christmas Jar.
- She's very sweet. - Mhmm.
- I'll tell you what.
Why don't you go give it to her?
- Oh no, no, I couldn't.
- Yes, you can.
- Really? - Yeah.
- We really want you to have it.
- Give it to her.
That's it, honey.
- Thank you. - You're welcome.
- Merry Christmas.
- Come on.
- When we gave away the jar that day,
we gave away our Christmas.
There wasn't any money to buy gifts for anyone.
- And in the morning, with no presents to open,
we turned on the Christmas lights,
put on some carols - Yeah.
- and took turns sharing what we were all grateful for.
- Turned out to be the best Christmas we ever had, right?
- And we vowed to do it every year after that.
- So from that point on,
we threw all our change into a jar, year-round,
and then we would give it to someone
who we thought could really use it.
- And you're the first person we've ever told that to,
so I guess that makes you one of us now.
- Yup. Mum's the word.
- We still have to repair the cornice on this night table,
and we have to strip that desk of yours
with some, uh, lacquer thinner,
then give it a good sanding.
Do you have any questions about any of this?
- Yeah! Well, I'd like to know how you decide on the person
you give your jars to?
- So we're back to that, are we?
- Sorry,
I couldn't stop thinking about it last night.
- Okay.
- We share stories we've overheard about people
from work, school, church, wherever.
- Do you ever wonder about them?
I mean, where they are now? - Sure!
I think about them year-round,
every time I throw my spare change into the jar.
- And no one's ever guessed the jars came from you?
- Hey, Chatty Cathy, there's still work to be done, hm?
- Sorry. - Don't be sorry.
Just give me a hand with this clamp here, okay?
You haven't learned anything, have you?
- Not a thing.
- Ahh! Ha!
Hey, Hope, I finally got your drawer unlocked.
- Ooh!
- Maybe we'll find one of your grandmother's old stories?
- Actually, you know, that's been locked for so long, I...
probably even before my grandmother had it.
I don't know what's in there.
- Oh...
Just an old Chinese take-out menu.
- Bet that wasn't what you were expecting, huh?
- Honestly, I had no idea what would be in there.
- Hey, what's up, guys?
- We were wondering if Hope can come skating with us tomorrow.
- I promised I'd take them in the morning.
You're welcome to join if you'd like.
- Yeah! No, I'd love to. - Yay! She's coming!
- We usually go for pancakes afterwards.
- I know the perfect place.
- Hey, Hope!
So did you always know you were gonna be a reporter?
- Um, yeah, I can't imagine ever doing anything else.
- I don't know what kind of writer I wanna be yet.
- Well, you have a lot of time to figure that out.
- Right now, I just like making up my own stories.
- Maybe I can read one someday?
I know it can be scary, but... I promise I won't be mean.
- I... I know. I trust you.
- Tag! You're it!
- Oh, I'm gonna get you!
- You seem to know what you're doing out here.
- I should. I've been skating since I was five.
- Know any tricks?
- Yeah, I used to.
- Let's see what you got.
- 'Kay, it's been a while, so...
don't laugh if I fall.
- No promises.
Oh! Oh...
Whoa! - Oh! Ow!
- Whoa! Ungh!
- Ow...
Are you okay?
- Uh... no, I think I just broke my dignity.
- Are you sure you're okay?
- Yeah. I was just thinking about my mom.
This is the same place she taught me how to skate.
- Sorry, I didn't know.
- It's okay. I just... miss her.
- Whoa, whoa. - I'm okay.
- Here. You don't want a... tear-sicle.
Those can be sharp and deadly.
- Can I ask you another quest-- - So what are your plans for--
- ...about Christmas Jars?
- You go first.
- I was just wondering why you always give the jars away
anonymously?
- That way no one feels like they owe us anything in return.
That's the real spirit of giving.
- Has anyone ever caught you in the act?
- Almost.
A couple years ago, the woman I was supposed to give our jar to
opened her door right as I was about to put it down,
and so I pretended like I was lost,
asking for directions. - Oh no.
- Yeah, yeah,
in the age of GPS I was asking for directions.
She must have thought I was casing her house
for a break-in.
So, after that, I started delivering them
in the middle of the night so no one would see me.
- So what were you gonna ask me?
- I was wondering if you have any plans for the holidays?
- No.
- Maybe we could go out to dinner...
or something?
- Dinner would be... good, yeah.
- 'Kay. - Okay.
- Do you want some syrup?
Oh...
- You seem happy.
- We've been having such a fun day.
- You still haven't told them yet?
- I promise I'm gonna tell them everything
when the time is right.
- The longer you wait, the harder it's gonna be.
- I know, but... but I can't yet.
- You'll be fine, Hope.
You write that story, you'll make us proud.
- Yes.
See, this article is a chance for the people
whose lives they've changed to say thank you.
- If you say so.
I just hate seeing you compromise your values.
And I don't wanna see you get hurt.
- Oh, come on, Cynthia.
It's not like she's pretending to be a doctor
performing surgery or something.
She's telling people she a college student.
What's the big deal? - Shhh!
Look, I should really get back, but...
come over and say hi, okay?
- Okay.
- Hey! - Hey!
So we're just discussing your incredible...
figure skating skills.
- Oh, yeah. Did you talk about when you fell on me?
- Uh... I don't remember that.
- I saw that, yeah.
- Thank you.
Hey, you see that seat over there, right on the end?
That's where I used to sit and finish my homework
every day after school
and I would wait for my mom to finish her shift.
- You had your very own stool? - Sure did.
Yeah, I practically grew up here.
- And is this booth where your mom found you?
- Yeah, right where you're sitting, actually.
I got so lucky. She wasn't even supposed to be in that day.
- In that case, we all got lucky.
- Messing around with your phone, I see.
You must be done your article.
- Not quite.
What seems to be the problem, Hope?
You've been saying "not quite" for days.
- Well, I haven't exactly been honest with the Maxwells
and I'm starting to feel really guilty about it.
- Seriously. - Yeah.
- Have you ever heard of Nellie Bly?
- No. - Okay,
Nelly pretended to be a crazy person
to get admitted to a mental hospital
where she reported on the horrible conditions inside.
And that report became the foundation for sweeping reforms
in the psychiatric profession.
Hope, there is a long history of journalists in this country
going undercover for the sake of a good story.
And this, what you have right here,
is a good story.
- I know that. - Okay, so don't fight it.
Embrace it.
Go with it, be one with it.
Be Nelly Bly. All right? - Okay.
- Okay. You gotta show me something, Hope.
'Cause I'm telling you, this whole wishy-washy thing,
it's not cuttin' it.
I put a lot of faith in you, Hope.
Don't make me regret it.
Oh, something's coming on here. Is that regret?
Oh, that's regret, yeah.
Hope, help me! Help me, Hope!
Help me.
- Hey! - Hi!
- Whoa, what's all this?
- So I did a bit of Christmas shopping.
- Ahh!
- I got this for Ian.
It's the Jane Austen collection.
- Oh, that's perfect! - I couldn't resist.
And...
- Sammy!
But how?!
Oh, thank you so much!
You have just made his Christmas.
Oh, okay. I am gonna go hide all this.
Everyone's in the kitchen.
- Ready to go. - Okay, great.
Finish that and... hey!
- Smells so good in here!
- These are incredible!
They're so cool.
- We were just talking about Christmas
and wondered if you'd like to join us on Christmas Eve?
- Really? - Unless you have other plans.
- Just dinner at Chuck's like we usually do.
- Come over after dinner,
and spend Christmas Day with us, too.
- Christmas Eve is my favorite.
All the Christmas lights and carols.
We wrap presents, and drink eggnog,
stay up late just talking
and eating way too many of these.
- That sounds just about perfect.
- But I should warn you.
Jake here gets up super early
and makes a point of waking everyone.
- How early?
- Uh, 5:00 am. 6:00, if we're lucky.
- Well, the Christmas Eve part sounds great.
- You just come over whenever you want,
but don't show up all fancy.
We spend half the day in our pajamas.
Do you mind grabbing those for me?
- Of course.
- I was thinking about your birth mother.
Do you have any clues about her at all?
- Uh, she left a note in my baby blanket,
but she never signed it.
- Did you keep it?
- Of course. Yeah, it's the only thing I have from her.
- What about trying one of those family tree, DNA kits?
It might lead you to a blood relative.
- I don't know.
I always worried that talking about that would upset my mom.
- Of course.
Well, I'd be happy to help if you ever wanna try.
- Thank you.
Nope.
Nope, nope. I'm not gonna take one.
- They're really good.
- Mm...
I don't even see them.
Nope, they're not even there.
Oh, but yes they are, honey, and this girl needs her sugar.
- One cannot survive on eggnog alone.
- One speaks truth.
- So where's my story?
- It's almost finished. - Oh, almost. Oh, that's great.
Yeah, 'cause there's this thing called Christmas coming up
and it's kind of a hard deadline.
- I know. But there's still a few pieces of the story
that I haven't quite cracked yet.
- Okay, then just give me whatever you've got
by end of day. - What?! Why?
- Because we're running out of time.
You're making me nervous, You know what?
Until you are done, cookies go bye-bye.
- But, Lyle, I'm not done yet.
- Mm-mm. Unh-unh. I said no to you last week.
Yeah, no. No.
Ugh. Lame.
You look as sad as that salad.
- I'm stressing out.
Lyle wants my story by the end of the day,
and I still haven't told the Maxwells the truth.
- Oh boy.
- I know. And I don't wanna let Lyle down either.
- So what're you gonna do?
- Uh, I don't know, Rory.
- I was gonna say you're torn because all you've ever wanted
was to be a reporter and...
now this is finally your chance.
But you don't wanna lose the Maxwells either.
But if you could only have one,
which one would hurt the most to lose?
- That's just it. I can't choose.
- You may not have a choice.
- And if you don't act soon, you may lose both of 'em.
- I can't believe she walks all this way.
- Five days a week, seven miles each way.
She has to leave the house at 5:30
to get to work on time.
- At least this should be enough to fix her car.
- With hopefully some leftover for Christmas.
Okay, now her mom looks after the kids during the day
and they'll probably be home,
so we'll have to be really quick.
- Grandma! Someone's at the door!
- What do we do?!
- Uh... here!
Run!
- Get the door.
- That felt incredible.
Hannah?
Hannah!
- Shh... shh, shh.
Come on, let's get outta here.
- Thanks for sharing this with me.
- Come on.
- Whoa!
- Come on.
Let's go.
- I'm back!
- That's four strikes in a row. What?!
- Ah, that's my girl! - Can you believe it?
- That's my girl!
How about you, Hope? What's your secret talent?
- Oh, well, I'm a really fast typist.
- Bore-ing.
- Okay, um,
I can pick up a pen with my toes and sign my name.
- Why would you ever learn to do that?
- You've never been an only child.
- Yeah.
- How about you, Ian? - Me? Uh...
- I think you should do that trick.
- Yes! Come on! Do it! - No! I'm not doing the trick!
I'm not doing the trick, it's silly. I'm not.
- What trick? - All right, I'll do the trick.
I'll do the trick, okay?
- Are you gonna make that disappear?
- Watch very closely.
- Oh!
- No bad, huh? Thank you very much.
- I think I'm up.
- And is this the part where you reach behind my ear
and pull out the coin?
- Kind of.
- Kind of?
What's that? - It's a key.
For your desk drawer.
I made it.
- You made it?
Thanks.
- You're welcome.
- Did you practice that? - The trick?
- Yeah. - Uh... no.
Made it up on the spot.
- No way that was the first time. You made that up.
- Hey, we better get going
if we're gonna make that 7:30 show.
- Uh... no, we'll just get tickets online.
Four adults, 7:30...
- Oh, I think Hope gets a student discount, right?
- You would need to show your student ID at the booth
and I left mine at home.
I'll just get my own ticket. - It's fine, I got it.
- 'Kay.
- What's wrong?
- Nothing. - You sure?
You look so serious all of a sudden.
- I should probably tell you something.
I'm just sort of worried about what's gonna happen and...
you know, when I turn my school paper in.
- Okay, don't be ridiculous.
You don't need an excuse to hang out with us.
Come on, let's go. - Come on.
- Wow! Mind blown!
You totally hit it outta the park!
And I'm gonna run this
as the top story on our homepage.
- I mean, they give away the jars anonymously
They don't want any form of recognition.
- So they're reluctant heroes. That's fantastic!
We could add that in.
- The Maxwells have been so good to me.
- Hope, come on.
I mean, you have written...
a powerful story here
that has the potential to touch thou--
no, millions of readers' lives.
Inspire them even.
'Kay, that, that should be your focus.
Am I right as a journalist?
Receptionist: Yeah, hi, Brandi,
Yeah, I have some people at reception
inquiring about advertising with us.
Great, thanks.
Our Classified Sales Agent will be right with you.
- Thank you.
- Come on, Hope,
you should be proud of yourself.
I'm proud of you even though you're drivin' me crazy
right now.
- Lyle, I'm grateful for this opportunity, but...
yeah, I don't think hurting this family
for the sake of my career is worth it.
- Okay, and I'm... I'm confused.
'Cause you pitched me this story, right?
I've been waiting for this story,
for what, the last 3 weeks!
Not quite, not quite!
Finally, it's ready, and now you wanna pull the plug.
Well, why don't you just grow up!
Hope, you're so overthinking this!
The Maxwells will probably get a kick
out of all the publicity. - No, they won't!
- Yes, they will! Hope, come on, smarten up!
And come on back with me.
- Is that Hope?
- Hope, we're running the Christmas Jars story
and that's final. I just sent it to the copy editor.
- Hope?
Wow.
- Ian...
"It's killing me to leave my baby behind.
But I can't bear the thought of seeing her suffer
as I have suffered these past few years.
Please tell her that I love her
and that I pray I'll hold her again someday.
That will forever be my hope."
I really miss you, Mom.
I messed up and...
I don't know how to fix it.
Ian, I'm so happy to see you.
- I just came to return your desk.
- Well, why don't you come in?
- I have other deliveries to make.
- Wait, Ian, wait!
- Look, I wanted to tell you the truth so many times,
but I was scared.
- Scared of what?
- I was... scared of this moment.
Look, I was scared of what you'd think of me...
and that you might not ever forgive me.
I didn't think I was gonna fall in love with you...
and your family like... like I did
and I didn't know how to come clean about anything.
- I just...
I don't know what to believe anymore.
Was that desk even your grandmother's?
Ian, let me explain!
- Good luck with your career.
I hope it was worth it.
- Ian!
- The party has a bird this year.
- Ooh, sorry! - All right?
- It has a bird!
- Woo!
- What's wrong?
- They're never gonna forgive me.
- They'll come around. Just give 'em some time.
Nice ears.
- What?
- I said nice ears.
- Hey! I like yours, too.
- Thank you.
Hey, what do you think about Masquerade Mondays
as a way to beat back the Monday Blues?
- Masquerade Mondays? - Mhmm.
You mean I'd have an excuse to dress up every week?
I love it.
Eggnog?
Let's go.
Hope!
Hope! Hope!
It's not everyday someone gets their first story
on the homepage.
Nice job!
- Thanks. - Oh...
- Wait, what's that?
- That's um... some house fire.
"A fire broke out in the family's home studio
trapping a man in his 50's inside.
He's now in critical condition in the hospital."
I have to go. - Told you!
Your story has totally gone viral,
and the Christmas Jars hashtag is trending.
Lay it on me!
I'm gonna be hiring you as full-time writer
in the New Year.
- I've gotta go.
- Hope? Where...?
What would you say is your company's purpose
or mission statement? - Oh, that's easy.
We make damaged furniture beautiful again.
Clear and simple. - Yeah, sure is.
You can fix just about anything
if you apply enough love and elbow grease.
You can fix just about anything
if you apply enough love and elbow grease.
- I wrote a follow-up piece. - Oh! I never asked for that.
- You said the article went viral.
And did you see how many comments
and questions there were?
- So you wrote a new article
answering questions from the old article?
We don't do that.
- Please, Lyle.
I need to make this right.
- All right.
No promises.
I'll give it a read.
"Many of you read my first article
on the Christmas Jar tradition,
and I was surprised and touched
by the extraordinary responses it generated.
The truth is, I didn't tell the whole story.
A few weeks ago, my apartment was broken into..."
"That same night,
I myself received one of these Christmas Jars."
- Hope got one too?!
- Shh... just listen.
- "There was no note and no explanation.
I needed to find out where it came from.
I discovered there were others as well.
My investigation led me to the family behind it all.
The Maxwells never sought the spotlight."
"They taught me that people are mostly good.
You just need to be reminded of that sometimes.
And to look around and really see each other,
especially those who need a helping hand.
I had just lost my mother to cancer,
and I was feeling lost,
but the Maxwells opened their home to me.
I felt like I belonged somewhere again.
My deception was repaid
with nothing but kindness and compassion.
I revealed a secret that was not mine to share."
"And now I'm saddened to report
the Maxwells are going through a tragedy of their own.
Adam Maxwell is in the hospital,
fighting for his life,
so please keep him and his family in your prayers."
"And may the spirit of the Christmas Jars
live on within all of you."
- Hey. - Hi.
Come on in. Please.
- How's your dad doing?
- Well, we just got back from the hospital.
He's still intubated in the ICU.
They're worried about respiratory failure
from all the smoke and chemicals he's inhaled.
- Hannah, I'm so sorry about everything.
- I know you are.
Come on in.
- I'm so sorry about Adam.
- Thank you.
- And I'm sorry for what I did to you.
For lying to you,
and for exposing your secret.
- I trusted you.
- I know you did,
and I'm so sorry.
I... I wanted to tell you the truth,
no, I did, but...
I got so far in with all my lies,
and I couldn't find a way out.
That's all I really wanted to say.
And, of course, that I'm keeping Adam
and all of you in my prayers.
- Do you wanna stay for dinner?
- I would really love to,
I really would, but...
my mom and I always spend Christmas Eve at the diner.
Even though she's not here,
I felt that if I were there, then she would be with me.
- Of course.
- I can come and live with you if you want.
- Aw... Thanks, Jake.
but I'll be okay.
You should stay here with your family.
Ian, would you walk me out?
I know I screwed up,
and I know you might not ever forgive me.
So if I never see you again,
I want you to know that I really do care about you.
That part was never a lie.
I gotta go.
- You okay?
- Yeah, I'm fine.
- Why don't we play a game or something
instead of sitting around, staring at each other?
- Good idea.
- She must have forgotten something.
- How about a game of cards?
- I got them!
- All right, you go get 'em.
- It wasn't Hope.
- Who was it? - It was this woman
and her little boy. They gave this to me.
All she said was thank you and God bless you.
- Here, I'll go. - Let me see that jar.
- Um... I got three more.
- Who brought them?
- People who want us to know they're thinking of us.
- I wanna get that one!
- This is amazing, but I don't understand.
- They're saying thank you.
That's all.
- You'd better come see this!
Wow! Look at them all.
- Merry Christmas.
- Thanks.
Wow. Thank you.
- Merry Christmas.
- Oh my goodness, thank you. - Thank you.
- Merry Christmas. - Merry Christmas!
- Merry Christmas. - Jake!
- Is that for me? - Thank you.
- Thank you so much. - Merry Christmas.
- Merry Christmas, guys. - Thank you.
- Merry Christmas. - Thank you.
- Merry Christmas. - Oh, thank you so much!
Merry Christmas!
- Hi.
- Merry Christmas.
- Thanks so much. - Merry Christmas.
- Mrs. Maxwell? - Yes?
- I'm so sorry to bother you.
I know it must be a very tough time.
I just... felt like I had to come.
- Would you like to come in?
- Thank you.
I used to live near here when I was a newlywed.
- That's a happy time.
- Some of it was happy, but...
not most of it.
My husband had a very bad temper.
- Everything okay, Mom?
- Um, come, join us.
These are my two oldest, uh, Hannah and Ian,
and my son-in-law, Dustin.
I'm so sorry, I just realized I didn't ask you your name.
- It's Marianne.
- Nice to meet you, Marianne.
- It's so nice to meet you all.
- Please, um, go on with your story.
- Uh...
my ex-husband was a very violent man.
When I was 9 months pregnant,
he beat me so badly that...
I thought I was going to die...
but I-I didn't.
I survived and so did my baby.
I gave birth to her at home. - By yourself?!
- Yeah. I never had any friends back then.
He made sure of it and...
I didn't have money for a doctor.
He cleaned out our savings account and took everything.
The rent was overdue,
the utilities shut off. I mean, there I was...
freezing, with a newborn,
in an apartment wallpapered with eviction notices.
'Cause I had nowhere to go,
no one to turn to.
I was inconsolable.
I mean, I-I-I could barely breathe after...
- After what?
- I gave her away.
I gave my baby away.
I didn't know where to go...
I had no one to turn to...
then out of nowhere,
this little girl appeared,
just this... little angel,
and she gave me this jar full of change.
- Oh...
- I just sat there...
I couldn't believe it.
- That's amazing.
- That money did more than help me to survive.
It... it renewed my faith
so I could pick myself up and carry on.
- What happened to the baby?
- I left her in a little diner.
I know it sounds terrible.
It, it was terrible, It is... terrible,
but there was something
in the kindness of my waitress' eyes
and... the friendly owners, the...
It made it seem safe for her.
I just knew that someone else could...
give her a better shot at life than I could.
But I think about her every day.
- Marianne, have you had dinner yet?
Want us to come in with you?
- Thanks, but...
I need to do this on my own.
- Hope?
I think this is... the same booth.
- It is.
- I'm sorry this is so awkward.
- I've thought about this day for so long
and now that it's here I don't know what to say.
Oh...
That was the worst day of my life,
when I wrote that note.
- It's okay.
- I'm sorry.
- I'm okay.
And I'm really happy that you're here.
- Me too.
- Your mom named you "Hope".
- Yeah, she did.
- Oh, I'm Marianne.
It's nice to meet you, Marianne.
- It's nice to meet you.
- We have the same nose.
- Yeah, we do.
- Could you pass the rolls, please?
- Perfect. - Okay.
Oh.
- Oh, there's that huge ring blinding me!
- Oh It's so beautiful. - Ooh... wow.
- Thanks for making me look bad, Ian.
- Oh stop. - Well?
- Who wants turkey!
I do! I do!
- Raise above, that it!
- This family gets any bigger,
we're gonna need two turkeys next year.
- And two Christmas Jars.
- Two!
You!
Okay. That's it.