If you gave most 21-year-olds a $5 million check, they probably wouldn’t think of their parents first. But Pavin Smith isn’t your ordinary 21-year-old.
Smith, who was drafted by MLB’s Arizona Diamondbacks this year, used part of his $5 million signing bonus—essentially his first big-league paycheck—to give his parents an extraordinary Christmas gift. He had them read a poem and then revealed in a letter that he’d completely paid off their mortgage.
Thankfully for us, someone was recording the moment his parents read the message on Christmas Day, and Smith posted the clip to Twitter:
Thank you for everything you have done for me! This doesn’t make up for any of it. Love you both so much. Our home is finally all YOURS. Merry Christmas! pic.twitter.com/h9wog2HfHv
— Pavin Smith (@PavinSmith) December 25, 2017
“Thank you for everything you have done for me!” Smith wrote. “Love you both so much. Our home is finally all YOURS. Merry Christmas!”
It doesn’t get much merrier than that. Since Smith tweeted the video, it’s been liked more than 24,000 times and watched more than 1 million times. It’s a beautiful clip, as you see his mom and dad begin to break down while she reads the words of Robert William Service’s 1912 poem “Home and Love” aloud.
“When angels talk in Heaven above / I’m sure they have no words more sweet / Than Home and Love,” the poem reads.
When his mom gets to the part that reveals what their son has done for them, she gets quiet, before saying, “You can’t do that,” amid tears. The camera pans to Smith, who’s smiling at them. The whole thing is so sweet.
Smith, who played college baseball at the University of Virginia, is from Jupiter, Florida. Next year, he’ll play first base for the Hillsboro Hops, a minor league affiliate of the Diamondbacks. I have a feeling his parents will be there for every step of his career.
Smith isn’t the only baseball player who made an incredible gesture this holiday season. Texas Rangers pitcher Cole Hamels donated his family’s $9.4 million home to a camp for children with special needs. If you ask me, they’re both all-stars!
[h/t: Little Things]