10 years ago today, it was the call of the most valuable Christmas gift I’ve ever received.

“Are you sitting down?” Asked my tax specialist Brenda J. Stout.

During my decade long dance with crystal m*th, I’d paid little attention to normal, everyday responsibilities, including my mail.

I was off the rails.

Turns out I’d received 17 different letters over the years from a very patient IRS agent about previous tax year filings and they were now demanding a reply or jail time.

I’d been clean and sober for a few years by then during which time I’d amassed a small fortune in accrued taxes, fees and fines totaling over $100,000.

Time to face the music as part of my recovery program, I met with Brenda Stout at the recommendation of a friend.

She successfully negotiated a $22,000 settlement on my behalf toward which I’d been paying half my meager income each month.

But behind the scenes and entirely unbeknownst to me, Brenda had continued her negotiations on my behalf until I got the call 10 years ago today.

“Are you sitting down?”

She’d been having heart to heart conversations with the agent about my addiction, repentance and determination to pay for my costly life mistakes on my path to recovery.

With $16,000 still due, she called to inform me that the IRS had forgiven and written of the remaining debt, apparently in an effort to expedite my life change.

To conclude, Brenda had orchestrated the most expensive Christmas gift I ever received.