Iraq Veteran, Robbed of Gifts, Embraced With Love Then Pays It Forward

Family that had presents stolen plans to pay it forward
Reno Gazette Journal
Sarah Litz
December 16, 2016

“We will be paying it forward for a long, very long time. Everyone has been so amazing to us and they just want to make sure our boys have a good Christmas, and that means the world to us.” Kelly Howe

Kelly and Brian Howe sit together with their adopted children Charlie, left, and Kirt while speaking with the RGJ in their home in Reno on Dec. 15, 2016.
(Photo: JASON BEAN/RGJ, RENO GAZETTE-JOURNAL-USA TODAY NETWORK)

Kelly and Brian Howe saved up for months to create the perfect Christmas for their adopted 2-year-old twins, Charlie and Kirt. The parents hoped to get the twins things they loved for Christmas – toy cars, books and anything with lights or music.

After a day of shopping, the family made a last stop for the day at the Walmart on Kietzke Lane. When they returned to their car in the parking lot, they found the car door open. What they didn’t find was a stroller, diaper bag, bottles, jackets and the presents they had just bought.

According to Lt. Zachary Thew with the Reno Police Department, the doors were locked and the suspects popped a door lock to get inside and burglarize the vehicle.

Kelly said the family lives on a fixed income with many hospital bills. Brian was shot in the Iraq War and suffers from traumatic brain injury, post-traumatic stress disorder and cognitive seizures. Kelly – who is a full time caregiver to her husband and children – was diagnosed with a rapid form of Meniere’s disease.

Both boys suffer from cortical visual impairment, sensory and auditory processing issues and agenesis of the corpus callosum – a rare birth defect in which the matter between the two hemispheres in the brain is missing. She said the boys have trouble focusing, don't talk and are being tested for autism.read more here