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Archive for December, 2009

We Still Believe

21 Dec

Yes, it’s been a pathetically long time since I’ve posted. But that’s not the point of today’s post as I’m sure you’ve already guessed from the title. It’s the week of Christmas and that means it’s time for me to share my favorite Santa story.

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Santa is a big deal at our house. He doesn’t bring a lot of stuff, but he’s responsible for some pretty amazing little things that happen around Christmas time in our family–at least in my kids’ eyes. There is no question that the magic and spirit of Santa are alive and well in our family.

I still believe–at least in all the good things that Santa represents–but then I had the advantage of having Santa Claus for a Dad. When we were kids (pre-teens), my sisters and I had the task of being the elves and making little gifts for Santa to give out each year on Christmas Eve. Santa was a family friend (actually a few different friends over the years) and my dad was Santa’s driver. My mom was the organizer and Santa visited families in our church and town who had children young enough to be excited over a personal visit from the jolly fat man himself on Christmas Eve.

When I was about 16 or 17, Santa came down with the flu on Christmas Eve. Try as they might, my parents couldn’t find a replacement Santa at the last minute. My dad decided that he would do it, rather than risk disappointing the children. My sisters and I were horrified–even my mom wasn’t too excited. See, my dad had been a career Marine and there was no doubt in our minds that he had sprung forth from the womb a full-fledged Marine and all the toughness that entailed. He was also skinny as a rail. He was the tough guy, not mean or harsh, but definitely a very strict dad, certainly not the first one you would think of for jolly and we were convinced that he would “ruin” Christmas for all our friends’ children. Well, Dad being Dad won (I told you he was tough–determined is probably a better adjective).

Mom ended up being the driver that night and we girls waited at home for their return. About 30 minutes or so after they left, one of my mom’s closest friends called. Their first stop had been to a very close family friend’s house to visit with all their grandchildren. She wanted to know who the Santa was who was with my mom. We thought it was a joke. She said he was the best Santa she had ever seen. She really had no idea it was our dad. We got several similar calls that night. From that night on, I knew that Santa really was magic. When Dad put on the suit, he truly became Santa. He was a completely different person and I don’t think I ever saw him happier than he was on Christmas Eve.

For the next 10 years, my dad was Santa every year on Christmas Eve. When I was 19, he decided he needed a “real” Santa suit. The one they had used for years was getting pretty worn and threadbare. So, Dad and I went shopping and picked out top quality velvet, fur and leather for the belt. He even bought real boots and we went to a professional wig shop for the wig and beard. Here is the portrait we did of him that year.

Sadly, he died the year before our son was born and our oldest was really too young to remember, so our children don’t know all their grandfather’s magic. But we put his portrait in a place of honor every year at Christmas next to the sign my mom gave each us the first Christmas after his passing that says “We still believe in Santa Claus.” And at our house we do.