Stranger's kind gesture helps Washington County family in need of support
WASHINGTON COUNTY (KDKA) — An unexpected act of kindness has gone a long way for a Washington County family.
Tami Avolia lost her son, Travis Larson, in a shooting in 2017, one week after learning he was expecting a baby girl.
"He didn't just take my son. He took my best friend. He took his daughter's daddy away. She never got to meet him," Avolia said. "A week before, we were celebrating the gender reveal party. He was so excited he was having a little girl."
This past April, Avolia said she wanted to do something special to celebrate her son's birthday with his now 4-year-old daughter, Milan.
Avolia said she got 'Happy Birthday' balloons to release into the sky with Milan and attached a note to the string.
"She wrote a note to him, and I translated it and it says, "Happy birthday, daddy. I love you. I miss you. And I never wanted you to go away. Happy Birthday. Baby girl," Avolia said.
But what happened next is something Avolia said she and her family never expected.
"A couple of days later, I went to the mailbox and I started pulling the box out and saw that it was from 'Daddy in heaven' to 'Baby Girl' and just started crying," Avolia said.
A postal worker in Fayette County told KDKA-TV that a woman found the balloon at her home in Brier Hill and took a package to mail back to the family a few days later, addressed to "Baby girl" from her "Dad."
"I love your birthday present. Thank you so much. Daddy loves you and Mommy so much and you all. Here's a present that I made just for you. Hope you like them," the note said inside the package.
Also inside were three handmade Christmas ornaments.
"They are Christmas tree ornaments, and I am sending you a kiss from heaven. Snowflakes are kisses from heaven. I love you so much. Daddy," the letter said.
"To see the smile on her face when she got her gift from daddy in heaven was priceless," Avolia said.
Avolia said with so much bad happening in the world and as she continues to grieve the loss of her son, this act of kindness has given her hope for a better tomorrow.
"After what I went through, I lost faith in people. They brought it back. I just want to thank you, whoever it is. I want to thank you," Avolia said.
