GIRL'S REQUEST FOR HOME REPAIRS BRINGS SURPRISE HOLIDAY GIFT

Ed Boniour, left, of Holligan Homes talked with Paul Johnson about remodeling his bathroom Wednesday afternoon. (LOU PEUKERT)

Girl's request for20home repairs brings20surprise holiday gift

By Peggy Scott

Joy Johnson wanted to give her parents the perfect Christmas gift, but she couldn't do it alone.

Earlier this month the 13-year-old Cape Girardeau girl wrote to Al Carroll and "Michael Holligan's Your New House" television show for help.

Her letter reached Dallas Wednesday morning. At 4 p.m., Holigan Homes in Cape Girardeau had the OK to make Joy's Christmas gift a reality.

She wrote: "I live here in Cape in a very small house. My parents are very loving and hard working.

"You're probably wondering why I'm telling you all this. It's because I need some help with a Christmas gift for my mom and dad. Our house is small, but what makes it worse is that we have a few mechanical problems. Our bathroom floor is messed up a little by the bathtub. We need to put a new board in. We have one, but we don't know exactly how to do it."

She suggested that the Super Handyman might choose her home for an upcoming show about how to make bathroom repairs.

"I don't have much money, but I'd be willing to pay what I have," she said.

She asked that her request be kept secret so she might surprise her parents.

In a surprise for the whole Johnson family, John Marlin and other representatives from Holigan Homes appeared on the Johnson's front porch. Her parents were shocked.

"And thankful and embarrassed," said Joy's mother, Nancy Johnson. She cried as she read the letter her daughter had written.

"I'm so touched that my daughter would do this and that someone cared enough to listen to a child," she said. "This is a Christmas I'll never forget, and it's an answer to a prayer. God does work through people."

"We are thrilled and honored to help someone like this," said Marlin of Holigan Homes. "We're going to do whatever needs to be done."

Having the repairs done will remove a financial burden from the family. "You feel like you never can get ahead," Nancy Johnson said. "This gives us quite a few steps ahead."

The entire bathroom will be remodeled. A new floor is needed, new bathtub, new toilet and vanity. A hole in the ceiling from an old roof leak will be repaired. Doors will be replaced.

Marlin estimated the project would have cost between $3,000 and $4,000. But the Johnson's won't pay anything.

The Johnson's now have the job of picking out a countertop and vinyl flooring. "It's about a two-day job," Marlin said. "It will be done before Christmas."

"We weren't going to do anything for Christmas, no gifts or anything," Nancy Johnson said. "This is the best gift I can imagine."

Joy Johnson stood back and smiled at the commotion taking place in her home. "I knew this was what my mom and dad would really like," she said. "I thought Al Carroll might help."