Most of us can barely wait to open our Christmas presents every year, but one Canadian man has managed to keep one unopened for the past 47 years.

Adrian Pearce of Edmonton received the gift in 1970 when he was a 17-year-old student at George S. Henry Secondary School in suburban Toronto. It was from Vicki, his first serious girlfriend, who gave him the gift and then immediately ended their relationship. He was so angry and upset about the breakup that opening the present was the last thing on his mind. He simply threw it under the Christmas tree and when it remained the only unopened present on Christmas day, he told his family that he was never going to open it. Believe it or not, he managed to keep that promise.

Photo: Adrian Pearce/Facebook

“She gave me a present at the same time, and I took the present home. I had a long walk home, and I was all upset and angry, and all the things you feel when somebody breaks up with you,” Pearce told CBC News. “And so I fired the present under the Christmas tree. After my family opened their gifts at Christmas, there was still one Christmas gift left, and it’s the gift this girl Vicki had given me. I told my family I’m never going to open that present.”

True to his word, he never did open the gift.

Pearce told reporters that Vicki’s sister contacted him several years after the breakup and gave him a contact number. He said that he met up with her a couple of times after that, but they both realized that they had moved on and weren’t interested in dating each other again. Soon after that, they lost touch.

Despite that, Pearce continued to put the present under his tree year after year. Eventually, he married someone else and had children, but the unopened present always found its way under their Christmas tree. His children asked many times if they could open it, but Pearce said no. His wife eventually got fed up and told him the gift wasn’t to be put under the tree anymore. Since then he just takes the present out of storage every year to look at the shiny blue paper for a while before storing it away again. This year he decided to take another step however and called the last number he had for Vicki.

Photo: Adrian Pearce/Facebook

“I was almost shaking I was so nervous,” he said. The Toronto area didn’t use ten-digit dialing at the time, so Pearce tried the three current area codes but had no luck. He also attempted an internet search and called a woman with the same name in Kelowna, B.C., but she turned out to be 91 years old and had never even lived in Ontario.

Pearce didn’t know what he would even say if he managed to reach Vicki, and he isn’t even sure why he kept the present all these years anyway.

“I kept it initially because I guess I had hopes that we would get back together and open it together. Now it’s just become a habit after 47 years of looking at it and having the pleasure of not opening it,” Pearce said. “Maybe I don’t want to know what’s inside it. It’s more exciting right now not opening the thing.”

Pearce claims that his wife doesn’t mind, and also enjoys the mystery of the unopened gift as well. He is considering opening it on the 50th anniversary of receiving it, and maybe even having a contest to guess what’s under the wrapping. There would be a fee to enter, and all proceeds would go to charity. That’s a pretty good idea, especially with his story going viral online.

Photo: Adrian Pearce/Facebook

“Perhaps she can be found and share in the celebration,” Pearce added.