A San Jose woman who made an extravagant Christmas display for her terminally ill son found Monday morning that the main parts of the display were stolen.
The thieves swiped the decorations right out of the front yard of the family's home in the city's Willow Glen neighborhood.
"This was my son's whole world," said Shelly Jimenez, who built the display on the front lawn of her Vernon Avenue home.
Jimenez's son Chris can't really leave the house, so the holidays have to come to him. He is terminally ill and is going blind.
Jimenez said she was going all out this year because it could be his last Christmas.
"It's to bring happiness to Chris, happiness to us to see him so happy," she said.
Jimenez also put up a Halloween display last month, and it became a hit in the community.
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"Whenever he would hear people laughing or screaming outside from the props, he would start laughing, and it was so much fun," Jimenez said of her son.
Video from a neighbor showed the items Jimenez said thieves took late Sunday night or early Monday morning. There was a carriage and horse, another horse and lawn animals.
"They have no meaning to these evil people who have taken this," Jimenez said.
The financial loss comes to about $500, Jimenez said. But the value for the family is priceless.
"You really don't know how much you can hurt somebody by taking something," she said.
The family simply wants the thieves to return the stolen items back to their front yard, no questions asked, so Chris can enjoy the holiday.
