Christmas came 19 days early for over 50 people when on Friday, St. Nicholas Day, they were gifted back their prized possessions — heirloom jewelry mostly — that had carried them through dire straits many years, if not decades, ago.

One woman in her twilight years, who answered a stranger’s phone call inviting her to a thanksgiving party in a Roxas Boulevard restaurant, cried unabashedly, along with many others who were swamped with emotions, disbelief and, ultimately, untrammeled joy.

As she opened the small, black box clad in faux leather, all the memories of her married life, both happy and sad, flooded her mind, and tears welled up in her eyes. Inside the box was her wedding ring, glinting yellow, through the transparent but now hazy signed plastic sleeve it had hibernated in.

She shared that she had pawned the ring many years ago, telling a total stranger with whom she shared a table that she thought she’d never see it again, always meaning to “liberate” it by paying the principal and interest but failing to find the cash to do so.

For the third straight year, Cebuana Lhuillier, the country’s largest microfinancing company, thanked its loyal clients by selecting from its branches pawned items that had been with them for what seemed like an eternity, to reunite them with their happy owners.

“We have one necklace that’s been with us for 12 years now, and we are giving it back to its owner, free, because what our Ka-Cebuanas value, we value as much,” the party host said.

But another necklace trumped the one the emcee mentioned — a simple gold chain with a cross pendant that has a big indentation on one side and what may be a bite mark on the other.

Like all the pawned items that were handed back without their owners shelling out a single centavo, this necklace bears mute witness to a story that deserves telling. It was a gift from a doting grandfather to his son’s second daughter, just as he had given a dragon gold ring to the first granddaughter.

The second granddaughter was not yet of school age when the necklace was handed to her dad. Hard times, however, forced him to pawn it, using it as collateral for a loan of about P15,000 — quite a sum at the time, considering inflation.

The little girl is now all grown up, through college, preparing for postgraduate studies. The gift from her lolo is now also a gift from a company — Cebuana Lhuillier — that puts its money behind its pledge of solidarity with its clients in need of bridge financing.

Yes, the items that were returned had already earned interest over the sums of money they were originally pawned for. Still, what other lender would think of losing money — both principal and the monthly interest it had written off?

Kudos to my “tocayo,” PJ Lhuillier Group of Companies president and CEO Jean Henri Lhuillier, businessman, diplomat, and sports patron whom I met over dinner in the 1990s in Cebu along with my fellow sportswriters. Keep up the good work, sir.

Amid the Yuletide season, the return of these cherished heirlooms stands as a reminder of the true spirit of Christmas — generosity, kindness, and the deep emotional bonds that material possessions can carry.

Through this initiative to reunite clients with their long-forgotten treasures, the company has returned memories, family legacies, and significant parts of their clients’ personal histories.

For the lucky recipients, the reunion with their heirlooms should not just be a moment of joy but a reminder of resilience, sacrifice, and the enduring power of family. The items, which had once been sacrificed in times of hardship, now symbolize hope and the importance of community.

In an era where financial struggles are commonplace, this gesture by Cebuana Lhuillier stands as an example of how businesses can make a meaningful impact beyond profits, enriching lives in ways that money alone cannot measure.