Grinches steal local woman’s Christmas, but cannot take hope
For Edna Morosco, 79, Christmas is about hope.
Despite the burglars that made off with the $500 she’d saved all year to buy Christmas presents for her grandkids and great grandkids, and jewelry, from her home.
Despite the leaky, broken pipes in her guest bathroom that aren’t covered by her homeowner’s insurance.
Those things could not break Edna’s spirit — at least, if they did, a blanket of family and friends didn’t think twice to mend it.
Not only did Gold’s Gym of Cape Coral collect $600 to replenish Edna’s Christmas fund, but the popular workout spot where Edna has been a member for nearly 30 years offered her a free year of membership.
Friends at the local Veterans of Foreign Wars Post, where Edna volunteers for tips, donated their tip money to help as well.
“This was really a big surprise,” she said. “I treasure every one of those persons. It’s just so wonderful; everything’s so hard the way it is now.”
The burglars made off with Edna’s cash and jewelry Nov. 4; she was out voting when they broke into her Cape Coral home and emptied the drawers and night stands in her bedroom.
Most of her jewelry wasn’t of much monetary value, she said.
“What hurt me the most is that they took my husband’s wrist watch.”
Edna met World War II Navy vet John Trenton Morosco, the love of her life, in 1969. The two were married until he passed away in 2005.
The watch, she said, was worthless to the crooks. A simple Timex.
To her it was priceless.
As for the $500 crooks nabbed, the money was meant to put smiles on the faces of 14 grandchildren, ages 4 to 36; and four great grandchildren, 2 years old and younger.
The youngsters belong to her “wonderful, wonderful bunch of kids”: five sons, and a daughter at whose Cape Coral home she will spend Christmas eve and morning.
Thanks to staff and members at Gold’s Gym, located at 1013 Cape Coral Parkway E., Edna has about $100 more to share gifts with her family.
“(Edna) is very close with our staff,” said the gym’s general manager Mike Drumm. “We try to get to know all of our members personally.”
The gym currently serves about 2,000 customers, Drumm said. Many of those customers were willing to help Edna when they heard about her dilemma.
“The economy is tight; times are tight for everybody,” Drumm said. “I absolutely did not anticipate the type of turnout that we had.”
Aside from starting the collection fund and hand-crafting a card signed by all who donated, employees and instructors donated also. Shelli Campbell, customer service manager, along with several other employees donated tips they received working the front counter.
Drumm said they heard about Edna’s troubles through a member she had shared her story with, and knew they had to help.
“Our initial goal was just to recoup some of (the stolen money),” Drumm said. “We ended up surpassing our own goals. (Edna) has the biggest heart and is the most sweet and kind woman that you will ever meet. Whether you have money or don’t you can appreciate a woman like that.
“When I first heard about it my heart was broken. It felt like it was mended and then some.”
Between her friends at Gold’s Gym, the VFW and several generations of Moroscos, Edna’s Christmas will be joyous yet.
“I have some very wonderful friends that are now family,” she said.