Santa Claus Is Real!

[cherrysis]

[img]graemlins/cry.gif[/img] Thanks Roger!!!

[cherrysmum]

pethead used to call children (the offspring of our friends)..and pretend to be santa..he'd have some background info to be more convincing...and his voice was perfect for the task...he made a lot of small children really happy...his ho ho ho's were perfect...

[ellanoize]

I remember my first Christmas adventure with Grandma. I was just a

kid. I remember tearing across town on my bike to visit her on the day

my big sister dropped the bomb: "There is no Santa Claus," she jeered.

"Even dummies know that!"

My Grandma was not the gushy kind, never had been. I fled to her that

day because I knew she would be straight with me. I knew Grandma

always told the truth, and I knew that the truth always went down a

whole lot easier when swallowed with one of her "world-famous"

cinnamon buns. I knew they were world-famous, because Grandma said so.

It had to be true.

Grandma was home, and the buns were still warm. Between bites, I

told her everything. She was ready for me. "No Santa Claus?" She

snorted...."Ridiculous! Don't believe it. That rumor has been going

around for years, and it makes me mad, plain mad!! Now, put on your

coat, and let's go."

"Go? Go where, Grandma?" I asked. I hadn't even finished my second

world-famous cinnamon bun.

"Where" turned out to be Kerby's General Store, the one store in town

that had a little bit of just about everything. As we walked through

its doors,Grandma handed me ten dollars. That was a bundle in those

days. "Take this money," she said, "and buy something for someone who

needs it. I'll wait for you in the car. "Then she turned and walked

out of Kerby's.

I was only eight years old. I'd often gone shopping with my mother,

but never had I shopped for anything all by myself.

The store seemed big and crowded, full of people scrambling to finish

their Christmas shopping. For a few moments I just stood there,

confused, clutching that ten-Dollar bill, wondering what to buy, and

who on earth to buy it for. I thought of everybody I knew: my family,

my friends , my neighbors, the kids at school, and he people who went

to my church.

I was just about thought out, when I suddenly thought of Bobby

Decker. He was a kid with bad breath and messy hair, and he sat right

behind me in Mrs.. Pollock's grade-two class.

Bobby Decker didn't have a coat. I knew that because he never went

out to recess during the winter. His mother always wrote note, telling

the teacher that he had a cough, but all we kids knew that Bobby

Decker didn't have a cough; he didn't have a good coat. I fingered the

ten-dollar bill with growing excitement. I would buy Bobby Decker a

coat!

I settled on a red corduroy one that had a hood to it. It looked real

warm,and he would like that.

"Is this a Christmas present for someone?" the lady behind the

counter asked kindly, as I lai d my ten dollars down.

"Yes, ma'am," I replied shyly. "It's for Bobby."

The nice lady smiled at me, as I told her about how Bobby really

needed a good winter coat. I didn't get any change, but she put the

coat in a bag,smiled again, and wished me a Merry Christmas.

That evening, Grandma helped me wrap the coat (a little tag fell out

of the coat, and Grandma tucked it in her Bible)in Christmas paper and

ribbons and wrote, "To Bobby, From Santa Claus" on it. Grandma said

that Santa always insisted on secrecy. Then she drove me over to Bobby

Decker's house,explaining as we went that I was now and forever

officially, one of Santa's helpers.

Grandma parked down the street from Bobby's house, and she and I

crept noiselessly and hid in the bushes by his front walk.

Then Grandma gave me a nudge. "All right, Santa Claus," she

whispered, "get going" I took a deep breath, dashed for his front

door, threw the present down on his step, pounded his door and flew

back to the safety of the bushes and Grandma.

Together we waited breathlessly in the darkness for the front door to

open. Finally it did, and there stood Bobby.

Fifty years haven't dimmed the thrill of those moments spent

shivering,beside my Grandma, in Bobby Decker's bushes.

That night , I realized that those awful rumors about Santa Claus were

just what Grandma said they were: ridiculous. Santa was alive and

well, and we were on his team. I still have the Bible, with the coat

tag tucked inside: $19.95.

May you always have LOVE to share, HEALTH to spare and FRIENDS that care....

And may you always believe in the magic of Santa Claus!