JONES COUNTY, Ga. — 74-year-old Evelyn Hawthorne has spent her last three years blessing others, a determined spreader of holiday cheer.
"My greatest reward is to see a smile on someone else's face," said Hawthorne.
She has given more than 700 pairs of socks to Jones County inmates, and gifts for residents and staff at Autumn Lane Nursing Home.
This year, she added a little twist and expanded her gift-giving to Macon, where she found 3 homeless people to bless with clothing, food, and a little money.
"This time, I just wanted the experience to give someone randomly on the street, to just hand them the bag and the envelope and say, 'Merry Christmas,'" said Hawthorne.
At first glance, you may mistake her for someone who would be on the receiving end of a holiday helper's list. More than 40 years ago at the age of 30, she says a man accidentally shot her in the spine, paralyzing her from the waist down.
"Having been on life support and ICU about eight different times down through the years, and yet here I am, 44 years later, when I was pronounced dead from the gunshot," said Hawthorne.
As Hawthorne puts it, she's not handicapped, but "handi-capable."
Jesse James Lucas received one of the gifts, but he gets even more than that from her.
"'You are somebody special in the loving eyes of God,' Lucas read from Hawthorne's note. "It's actually touching to the heart -- kind of feels like having family again."
Hawthorne says she has no plans of stopping anytime soon.
"It's just very special. It's just the sense of giving. Every year, every round goes higher and higher," said Hawthorne.
Hawthorne says between dialysis and other health issues, doctors and God have brought her back from the edge of death several times.
She says she intends on spreading more holiday cheer in the years to come, and wants to give a little more each year.