When both my parents died from a car crash when I was five, I got into the system.
Though it claims to protect children, being in the system is tough and rough! You get tossed from one home to the next when your “new parents” feel you are too much for them. So when my foster parents took me in and eventually adopted me, it changed my entire life. They loved me and taught me how to be a good human and most importantly how to be a happy, loved and respected person. They loved me unconditionally, educated, housed and fed me without wanting anything in return. When I graduated as a heating technician, they gave me money to open my home service business. They always showed up for me and I appreciated it. When I went visiting in summer, I noticed that they needed help with indoor comfort. The dual fuel system was not as efficient as it was when I was growing up. Mom told me how she had kept calling the heating contractor to handle repairs on the furnace. The fireplace looked like it had only been used last Christmas, I wondered whether it even worked. Dad complained that the digital thermostat would function intermittently which annoyed him and inconvenienced them. Though dad changed the furnace filters regularly, the air quality still needed some improvement. After thinking about their situation, I determined that the best Christmas gift for them would be a new heating unit, most probably an electric heat pump. I arranged for the heating dealer to deliver the unit while the workman would install the unit. Dad did not need to be reminded of what heat pump service is or the importance of regular furnace/heater tune-up to the proper function of the unit