The Boy who wanted to be Santa Claus

 December 4:

Advent Calendar December 4, 2022

 The Boy who Wanted to be Santa

When I was young, I loved Santa.  Not just because he gave me a lot of fun toys and presents every year, but because of how much joy and love he brought to all of us every year.  He was jolly and he was loving, and he was magical.  And the thought that he was up there at the North Pole spending 364 days getting ready to make children all over the world happy on one day…December 25^th was so beautiful and heartwarming that I knew I wanted to believe in him.  That I wanted to know that this one man was capable of spreading Christmas joy to kids everywhere.  Just make sure you didn’t cry or pout or do other bad things and you’d get nice surprises on Christmas morning.  Great story.  And even as a child, I thought how wonderful it would be to someday become “Santa”.  Not just dressing up as Santa…but being Santa.  Making dreams come true, not necessarily for every child in the world, but maybe for one or two.  As I grew up, I didn’t stop believing in him.  He was and is real.  He is not necessarily flesh and blood….but he is very much alive in the hearts of children of all ages at this time of year.   Because all of are capable of bringing that magic to others.  We can make a difference.  Santa made a difference to me in my life.  And as an adult I started to perform as Santa for Zing-A-Gram and it was truly a wonderful experience.  For many years, I performed at Christmas parties and special events that needed Santa’s services.  I even made trips to visit folks hosting Christmas Eve parties and always stressed how the children at these parties were very special because Santa was visiting them on his busiest night of the year!  One memory that stands out to me the most was in 2005, when I was in the process of reenlisting in the military and I happened to be working a Christmas Eve party.  This party had lots of young children and they would come up to me with this look of excitement and amazement as they sat on my lap and told me what they wanted for Christmas.  Each child would give me their list…the newest game, doll, etc., but this one little boy of 5 or 6 just sat there on my lap and looked at me.  I asked him what he wanted and he shyly said that it didn’t matter because I couldn’t give him what he truly wanted.  I told him that I would do everything I could and that he should let me try to get him what he wanted.  He looked at me for a moment, and then mumbled, “I want my dad home.”  I asked him where is dad was, and he just looked up at me with these big sad eyes and said, “He’s in Iraq."  I had to take a moment…but I told him, that I wasn’t sure I might not be able to get him home this Christmas, but I would try to get him home as soon as possible.  I just didn’t know what else to say.  But, one thing was for sure, at that moment I realized what I had to do once I had reenlisted.  I had to volunteer to go to Iraq.  Maybe me going would save some father or mother from going and allowing them to be home with their children for Christmas.  So that’s what I did.  I didn’t perform as Santa in 2006, because I was in Iraq.  But I truly believe, that maybe me going allowed a child to get their wish…to have their dad or mom home with them.  Maybe I was Santa…to just that one kid…but that was good enough.