Christmas has always been a big deal in the Angelopoulos household – for the last 10 years, Niki and her husband have been decorating their Vancouver home with as many Christmas decorations as they could buy.
Children know to come and see their house and marvel at the twinkling lights, the blowup decorations and the Santa statues.
However, four days ago, Niki woke up to discover about 70 per cent of the decorations were gone, seemingly stolen sometime during the night.
“I’m disgusted. I’m so upset.”
Niki, who is 81, along with her husband who is 83, spend weeks putting out the decorations and getting ready.
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“Every year I buy a little bit more,” she said. “But now, the stuff I buy is getting very expensive, very expensive.”
She said one item even cost her $300.
“I love it, I love it,” Niki said. “Every night the small kids, they come here they take pictures, I love it.”
But now she said she cries every day.
Niki said she did call the police but as she has no security footage or any way to catch the thieves, there is little that can be done.
She said she’s not going to stop though and has already ordered more decorations.
“I’m not stopping, I can do it,” she said. “Doesn’t matter if they do it again, I can do the same again.”
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Daughter Mary Angelopoulos said her parents really started getting into the holiday decorating spirit after they fully retired, about 10 years ago.
But they always loved decorating for Christmas.
However, now, they are missing at least six or seven of the blowup decorations that used to shine bright on the front lawn.
“One I bought for her just recently was $125,” Mary said.
“(The thieves) must have walked by a few times or something. My father is 83, my mother is 81; they are exhausted every day after trying to get their stuff together. I was really, really mad, we all are.
“It’s just awful, we’re really upset.”
Mary said it’s terrible to see her parents so distraught and in particular, her mother who has had a tough year and was so looking forward to the holidays.
“How dare you, ruin my mother’s Christmas who is 81 years old,” Mary said.
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She added her mother has been really upset about the theft and her dad was concerned about his wife’s reaction to the news.
“They’ve been married over 50 years. He was more upset for her than anything,” Mary said.
The Angelopoulos family is going to forge ahead to make Christmas special, as they do every year, even though this event has cast a shadow over the holiday season.
“It’s not fair, it’s Christmas, why did they steal it? It’s Christmas,” Niki said.
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